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THE  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURES 
OF  NILS 


flJUC- 
PSYCH. 
lIBRAi^Y 


EDUe 
LIBRARY 


COPVKIOHT.   I«07.-BV    DOVBLBOAT.  PaOB  &  COMPAirv 

PuBLieuBD,  Septemsek.  igs? 


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/JN  ^EfjropiA^  i 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE 

"The  Wonderful  Adventures  of  Nils"  was 
written  for  use  in  schools  as  "supplementary 
reading,"  with  the  special  idea  of  introducing 
such  subjects  as  would  be  educative  as  well 
as  entertaining  to  the  minds  of  children  from 
the  ages  of  nine  to  eleven.  The  book  has 
been  adopted  in  the  public  schools  of  Sweden, 
but  older  people  have  found  in  it  a  book  of 
permanent  value. 

In  so  far  as  possible,  the  translator  has 
faithfully  interpreted  the  author's  local  and 
idiomatic  expressions. 


ivil3646: 


TRANSLATOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

This  book,  which  is  the  latest  work  of 
Sweden's  greatest  fiction  writer,  was  pubHshed 
in  Stockholm,  December,  1906.  It  became 
immediately  the  most  popular  book  of  the 
year  in  Scandinavia. 

Four  years  ago  the  author  received  a  com- 
mission from  the  National  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion to  write  a  reader  for  the  public  schools. 

She  devoted  three  years  to  Nature  study 
and  to  familiarising  herself  with  animal  and 
bird  life.  She  sought  out  hitherto  unpublished 
folk-lore  and  legends  of  the  different  provinces. 
These  she  has  ingeniously  woven  into  her 
story. 

The  book  has  been  translated  into  German 
and  Danish,  and  the  book  reviewers  of  Ger- 
many and  Denmark,  as  well  as  those  of 
Sweden,  are  unanimous  in  proclaiming  this 
Selma  Lagerlof's  best  work. 

One  reviewer  has  said:     "Since  the  days 


viu  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

of  Hans  Christian  Andersen,  we  have  had 
nothing  in  Scandinavian  juvenile  literature 
to  compare  with  this  remarkable  book." 
Another  reviewer  wrote:  "Miss  Lagerlof  has 
the  keen  insight  into  animal  psychology  of 
a  Rudyard  Kipling." 

Stockholm's  Dagblad  said  among  other 
things:  "The  great  author  stands  as  it 
were  in  the  background.  The  prophetess 
is  forgotten  for  the  voices  that  speak  through 
her.  It  is  as  though  the  book  had  sprung 
direct  from  the  soul  of  the  Swedish  nation." 

Sydsvenska  Daghladet  writes:  "The  signifi- 
cant thing  about  this  book  is:  while  one 
follows  with  breathless  interest  the  shift- 
ing scenes  and  adventures,  one  learns  many 
things  without  being  conscious  of  it.  .  .  . 
The  author's  imagination  unfolds  an  almost 
inexhaustible  wealth  in  invention  of  new, 
and  ever-changing  adventures,  told  in  such  a 
convincing  way  that  we  almost  believe  them. 
As  amusement  reading  for  the 
young,  this  book  is  a  decided  acquisition. 
The  intimate  blending  of  fiction  and  fact  is 
so  subtle  that  one  finds  it  hard  to  distinguish 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  ix 

where  one  ends,  and  the  other  begins.  It 
is  a  classic.     .     .     A  masterwork." 

From  Gefle  Posten:  "The  author  is  here — 
as  always,  the  great  story-teller,  the  great- 
est, perhaps,  in  Scandinavian  literature  since 
the  days  of  Hans  Christian  Andersen.  To 
children  whose  imaginations  have  been  fos- 
tered by  Ashbjornsen,  Andersen,  and  'Thou- 
sand-and-One  Nights,'  Nils  Holgersson  will 
always  be  precious,  as  well  as  to  those  of  us 
who  are  older." 

From  Goteborg  Posten:  "Selma  Lagerlof 
has  given  us  a  good  lift  onward.  She  is  the 
one  whom  we,  in  these  days,  place  first  and 
foremost.  .  .  Among  the  other  work  which 
she  has  done  for  us,  and  for  our  children,  she 
has  re-created  our  geography  for  us.  .  .  Up- 
on imagination's  road  she  has  sought  to  open 
the  child-heart  to  an  understanding  of  animals, 
while  she  tactfully  and  playfully  drops  into 
little  knowledge-thirsty  minds  a  comprehen- 
sive understanding  of  the  habits  and  char- 
acteristics of  different  animals.  She  carries 
us  with  her  .  .  .  and  shapes  for  us — old 
and  young — a  new  childhood  in  tune  with  the 


X  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

thought  of  our  time.  What  does  she  not 
touch  upon  in  this  wonderful  book?  ...  As 
Mowgh,  who  had  the  key  to  all  the  languages 
of  the  Jungle,  once  found  his  way  to  all 
his  little  brother  and  sister-hearts  in  the 
great  civilised  world,  so  shall  the  Thum- 
bietot  of  Swedish  fairyland  lead  many  little 
thirsting  child-souls,  not  only  on  the  high- 
ways of  adventure,  but  also  upon  the  road 
of  seriousness  and  learning." 

Another  critic  says:  "Beyond  all  doubt, 
'Nils  Holgersson's  Journey'  is  one  of  the  most 
noteworthy  books  ever  published  in  our 
language.  I  take  it,  that  no  other  nation  has 
a  book  of  this  sort.  One  can  make  this  or 
that  comment  on  one  and  another  phase  of 
it,  but  the  whole  impresses  one  as  so  master- 
ful, so  great,  and  so  Swedish,  that  one  lays 
the  book  down  with  a  sense  of  gratitude  for 
the  privilege  of  reading  such  a  thing.  There 
is  a  deep  undercurrent  of  Swedish  earnestness 
all  through  this  tale  of  Nils  Holgersson.  It 
belongs  to  us.     It  is  a  part  of  us." 

Ny  Ttd  writes:  "Selma  Lagerlof's  book 
contains  just  as  much  information — no,  twice 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  xi 

as  much — as  the  old  readers.     It  acquaints 
the  children  with  Sweden's  nature ;  it  interests 
them  in  its  bird  world — both  tame  and  wild; 
in  its  domestic  and  forest  animals,  even  in 
its  rats.     It  explains  its  vegetation,  its  soil, 
its    mountain-formations,  its    climatic    con- 
ditions.    It  gives  you  customs,  superstitions 
and  the  folk-lore  in  different  sections  of  the 
country.     It  takes  in  farming  industry,  man- 
ors and  factories;   cities  and  peasant-cabins, 
and   even   dog-kennels.     It   has   a   word  for 
everything;  an   interest   in,    and   for,    every- 
thing.     For,   mark   you,   this  book    has  not 
been  patched  together  by  the  dilettante,  by 
committees.      .      .      It    was    written    by    a 
highly  gifted,  warm-hearted    seer,    to  whom 
the  child-nature  has  not  been  a  murky  pool 
to  fish  in,  but  a  clear,  impressionable  mirror. 
The    author    has     fulfilled    her     mission     in 
a     wholly    convincing     manner.      She     has 
had     enough     imagination      and     skill      to 
blend    all    the    dry    travel    and    nature  ma- 
terial into  the  harmonious  beauty  of  fable. 
She   knew  how  to   combine  the  useful  with 
the   beautiful,  as    no    pedant    of    the  prac- 


xii  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

tical,  or  the  aesthetic,  has  ever  dreamed  it. 
She  has  converted  the  absorption  of  knowl- 
edge into  a  child's  game — a  pleasure.  Her 
style  throughout  is  the  simplest,  the  most 
facile  for  children  to  grasp.  .  .  .  Her 
utterances  are  hearty  without  being  bois- 
terous; most  playful  and  humorous  with- 
out being  loquacious.  Her  work  is  a  model 
text-book;  and  just  therefore,  a  finished 
work  of  art." 

"From  Gotehorg  Morgan  Posten:  "The  fame 
of  her  literary  greatness  goes  forward  without  a 
dissenting  voice ;  fills  her  own  land,  and  travels 
far  and  wide  outside  its  borders.  .  .  Just 
as  modestly  as  she  points  a  moral,  just  so  deli- 
cately and  unobtrusively  does  she  give  infor- 
mation. Everything  comes  to  you  through  the 
adventures,  or  through  the  concrete  images  of 
imagination's  all-compelling  form.  .  .  . 
No  one  who  has  retained  a  particle  of  his  child 
mind  can  escape  the  genuine  witchery  of  the 
poesy  in  'Nils  Holgersson.'  " 

A  new  history  of  literature,  entitled  "  Frauen 
der  Gegenwart",  by  Dr.  Theodore  Klaiber, 
mentions  Miss  Lagerlof  as  the  foremost  woman 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  xiii 

writer  of  ottr  time,  and  says  that  she  is 
receiving  the  same  affectionate  homage  for 
her  art  in  other  lands,  that  has  been  accorded 
to  her  in  Sweden.  Dr.  Klaiber  does  not  see 
in  her  merely  **a  dreaming  poetess  far 
removed  from  the  world."  He  finds  her  too 
forceful  and  courageous  for  this. 

"  But  she  sees  life  with  other  eyes  than  do 
our  up-to-date  people.  All  her  world  becomes 
saga  and  legend.  .  .  .  More  than  all  other 
modem  authors,  she  has  that  all-embracing 
love  for  everything  which  never  wanes  and 
never  wearies."  says  Dr.  Klaiber. 

Torsten  Fagelqvist,  a  well-known  Swedish 
writer,  ends  his  review  of  the  book  with  these 
remarks:  "Our  guide  is  clear- visioned, 
many-sided  and  maternal.  She  can  speak 
all  languages:  the  language  of  animals,  and 
the  language  of  flowers;  but  first  and  last, 
childhood's  language.  And  the  best  of  all 
is,  that  under  her  spell  all  are  compelled  to 
become  children." 

Velma  Swanston  Howard. 


Comments  translated  from  Swedish  and  German. 


^^ 


^i^m 


Translator's  Introduction 

The  Boy       . 

Akka  from  Kebnekaise 

The  Wonderful  Journey  of  Nils 

Glimminge  Castle 

The  Great  Crane  Dance  on  Kul 

laberg 
In  Rainy  Weather 
The   Stairway  with  the  Three 

Steps 
By  Ronneby  River     . 
Karlskrona 
The  Trip  to  Oland      . 
Gland's  Southern  Point 
The  Big  Butterfly      . 
Little  Karl's  Island    . 
Two  Cities 

The  Legend  of  SmSland     . 
The  Crows  .... 
The  Old  Peasant  Woman  . 
From  Taberg  to  Huskvama 
The  Big  Bird-lake 
Ulvasa-lady 
The  Homespun  Cloth 
Appendix        .... 


THE  WONDERFUL  ADVENTURES 
OF  NILS 


I 

THE  BOY 

THE   ELF 

Sunday,  March  twentieth. 

ONCE  there  was  a  boy.  He  was — ^let  us 
say — something  hke  fourteen  years  old ; 
long  and  loose  jointed  and  towheaded.  He 
wasn't  good  for  much,  that  boy.  His  chief 
delight  was  to  eat  and  sleep;  and  after  that 
— ^he  liked  best  to  make  mischief. 

It  was  a  Sunday  morning  and  the  boy's 
parents  were  getting  ready  to  go  to  church. 
The  boy  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  in  his 
shirt  sleeves,  and  thought  how  lucky  it  was 
that  both  father  and  mother  were  going  away, 
and  the  coast  would  be  clear  for  a  couple  of 
hours.  "Good!  Now  I  can  take  down  pop's 
gun  and  fire  off  a  shot,  without  anybody's 
meddling  interference,"  he  said  to  himself. 

But  it  was  almost  as  if  father  shotild  have 


4  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

guessed  the  boy's  thoughts,  for  just  as  he 
was  on  the  threshold — ready  to  start — he 
stopped  short,  and  turned  toward  the  boy: 
"  Since  you  won't  come  to  church  with 
mother  and  me,"  he  said,  "the  least  you  can 
do,  is  to  read  the  service  at  home.  Will  you 
promise  to  do  so?"  "Yes,"  said  the  boy, 
"that  I  can  do  easy  enough."  And  he 
thought,  of  course,  that  he  wouldn't  read 
any  more  than  he  felt  like  reading. 

The  boy  thought  that  never  had  he  seen 
his  mother  so  persistent.  In  a  second  she 
was  over  by  the  shelf  near  the  fireplace,  and 
took  down  Luther's  Commentary  and  laid  it 
on  the  table,  in  front  of  the  window — opened 
at  the  service  for  the  day.  She  also  opened 
the  New  Testament,  and  placed  it  beside  the 
Commentary.  Finally,  she  drew  up  the  big 
arm-chair,  which  was  bought  at  the  parish 
•auction  the  year  before,  and  which,  as  a  rule, 
no  one  but  father  was  permitted  to  occupy. 

The  boy  sat  thinking  that  his  mother  was 
giving  herself  altogether  too  much  trouble 
with  this  spread;  for  he  had  no  intention  of 
reading  more  than  a  page  or  so.     But  now, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  5 

for  the  second  time,  it  was  almost  as  if  his 
father  were  able  to  see  right  through  him. 
He  walked  up  to  the  boy,  and  said  in  a  severe 
tone:  "Now,  remember,  that  you  are  to 
read  carefully!  For  when  we  come  back,  I 
shall  question  you  thoroughly;  and  if  you 
have  skipped  a  single  page,  it  will  not  go  well 
with  you." 

"The  service  is  fourteen  and  a  half  pages 
long,"  said  his  mother,  just  as  if  she  wanted 
to  heap  up  the  measure  of  his  misfortune. 
"  You'll  have  to  sit  down  and  begin  the  read- 
ing at  once,  if  you  expect  to  get  through  with 
it." 

With  that  they  departed.  And  as  the  boy 
stood  in  the  doorway  watching  them,  he 
thought  that  he  had  been  caught  in  a  trap. 
"There  they  go  congratulating  themselves, 
I  suppose,  in  the  belief  that  they've  hit  upon 
something  so  good  that  I'll  be  forced  to  sit 
and  hang  over  the  sermon  the  whole  time  that 
they  are  away,"  thought  he. 

But  his  father  and  mother  were  certainly 
not  congratulating  themselves  upon  anything 
of  the  sort;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  were 


6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

very  much  distressed.  They  were  poor  far- 
mers, and  their  place  was  not  much  bigger 
than  a  garden-plot.  When  they  first  moved 
there,  the  place  couldn't  feed  more  than  one 
pig  and  a  pair  of  chickens;  but  they  were 
uncommonly  industrious  and  capable  folk — 
and  now  they  had  both  cows  and  geese. 
Things  had  turned  out  very  well  for  them; 
and  they  would  have  gone  to  church  that 
beautiful  morning — satisfied  and  happy — if 
they  hadn't  had  their  son  to  think  of.  Father 
complained  that  he  was  dull  and  lazy ;  he  had 
not  cared  to  learn  anything  at  school,  and 
he  was  such  an  all-round  good-for-nothing, 
that  he  could  barely  be  made  to  tend  geese. 
Mother  did  not  deny  that  this  was  true;  but 
she  was  most  distressed  because  he  was  wild 
and  bad;  cruel  to  animals,  and  ill -willed 
toward  human  beings.  "  May  God  soften 
his  hard  heart,  and  give  him  a  better  dis- 
position!" said  the  mother,  "or  else  he  will 
be  a  misfortune,  both  to  himself  and  to  us." 
The  boy  stood  for  a  long  time  and  pon- 
dered whether  he  should  read  the  service  or 
not.     Finally,    he    came    to    the    conclusion 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  7 

that,  this  time,  it  was  best  to  be  obedient. 
He  seated  himself  in  the  easy  chair,  and  began 
to  read.  But  when  he  had  been  rattling 
away  in  an  undertone  for  a  little  while,  this 
mumbling  seemed  to  have  a  soothing  effect 
upon  him — and  he  began  to  nod. 

It  was  the  most  beautiful  weather  outside! 
It  was  only  the  twentieth  of  March;  but  the 
boy  lived  in  West  Vemminghog  Township, 
down  in  Southern  Skane,  where  the  spring 
was  already  in  full  swing.  It  was  not  as  yet 
green,  but  it  was  fresh  and  budding.  There 
was  water  in  all  the  trenches,  and  the  colt's- 
foot  on  the  edge  of  the  ditch,  was  in  bloom. 
All  the  weeds  that  grew  in  among  the  stones, 
were  brown  and  shiny.  The  beech-woods 
in  the  distance,  seemed  to  swell  and  grow 
thicker  with  every  second.  The  skies  were 
high — and  a  clear  blue.  The  cottage  door 
stood  ajar,  and  the  lark's  trill  could  be  heard 
in  the  room.  The  hens  and  geese  pattered 
about  in  the  yard,  and  the  cows,  who  felt 
the  spring  air  away  in  their  stalls,  lowed 
their  approval  every  now  and  then. 

The    boy    read    and    nodded    and    fought 


8 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


against  drowsiness.  "No!  I  don't  want  to 
fall  asleep,"  thought  he,  "for  then  I'll  not 
get  through  with  this  thing  the  whole 
forenoon. ' ' 

But — somehow — he    fell    asleep. 

He  did  not  know  whether  he  had  slept  a 
short  while,  or  a  long  while;  but  he  was 
awakened  by  hearing  a  slight  noise  back  of  him. 

On  the  window-sill,  facing  the  boy,  stood 
a  small  looking-glass;  and  almost  the  entire 
cottage  could  be  seen  in  this.  As  the  boy 
raised  his  head,  he  happened  to  look  in  the 
glass;  and  then  he  saw  that  the  cover  to 
his  mother's  chest  had  been  opened. 

His  mother  owned  a  great,  heavy,  iron- 
bound  oak  chest,  which  she  permitted  no 
one  but  herself  to  open.  Here  she  treasured 
all  the  things  she  had  inherited  from  her 
mother,  and  of  these  she  was  especially 
careful.  Here  lay  a  couple  of  old-time  peasant 
dresses,  of  red  homespun  cloth,  with  short 
bodice  and  plaited  shirt,  and  a  pearl-bedecked 
breast  pin.  There  were  starched  white-linen 
head-dresses,  and  heavy  silver  ornaments 
and  chains.      Folks  don't  care  to  go  about 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  9 

dressed  like  that  in  these  days,  and  several 
times  his  mother  had  thought  of  getting  rid 
of  the  old  things;  but  somehow,  she  hadn't 
had  the  heart  to  do  it. 

Now  the  boy  saw  distinctly — in  the  glass — 
that  the  chest-lid  was  open.  He  could  not 
understand  how  this  had  happened,  for  his 
mother  had  closed  the  chest  before  she  went 
away.  She  never  would  have  left  that  pre- 
cious chest  open  when  he  was  at  home,  alone. 

He  became  low-spirited  and  apprehensive. 
He  was  afraid  that  a  thief  had  sneaked  his 
way  into  the  cottage.  He  didn't  dare  to 
move ;  but  sat  still  and  stared  into  the  looking- 
glass. 

While  he  sat  there  and  waited  for  the  thief 
to  make  his  appearance,  be  began  to  wonder 
what  that  dark  shadow  was  which  fell  across 
the  edge  of  the  chest.  He  looked  and  looked 
— and  did  not  want  to  believe  his  eyes.  But 
the  thing,  which  at  first  seemed  shadowy, 
became  more  and  more  clear  to  him;  and 
soon  he  saw  that  it  was  something  real.  It 
was  no  less  a  thing  than  an  elf  who  sat  there 
— astride  the  edge  of  the  chest! 


lo  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

To  be  sure,  the  boy  had  heard  stories  about 
elves,  but  he  had  never  dreamed  that  they 
were  such  tiny  creatures.  He  was  no  taller 
than  a  hand's  breadth — this  one,  who  sat  on 
the  edge  of  the  chest.  He  had  an  old, 
wrinkled  and  beardless  face,  and  was  dressed 
in  a  black  frock  coat,  knee-breeches  and  a 
broad-brimmed  black  hat.  He  was  very 
trim  and  smart,  with  his  white  laces  about 
the  throat  and  wrist-bands,  his  buckled  shoes, 
and  the  bows  on  his  garters.  He  had  taken 
from  the  chest  an  embroidered  piece,  and  sat 
and  looked  at  the  old-fashioned  handiwork 
with  such  an  air  of  veneration,  that  he  did 
not  observe  the  boy  had  awakened. 

The  boy  was  somewhat  surprised  to  see  the 
elf,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  not  par- 
ticularly frightened.  It  was  impossible  to 
be  afraid  of  one  who  was  so  little.  And  since 
the  elf  was  so  absorbed  in  his  own  thoughts 
that  he  neither  saw  nor  heard,  the  boy  thought 
that  it  would  be  great  fun  to  play  a  trick  on 
him ;  to  push  him  over  into  the  chest  and  shut 
the  lid  on  him,  or  something  of  that  kind.  " 

But  the  boy  was  not  so  courageous  that  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  ii 

dared  to  touch  the  elf  with  his  hands,  instead 
he  looked  around  the  room  for  something  to 
poke  him  with.  He  let  his  gaze  wander  from 
the  sofa  to  the  leaf- table;  from  the  leaf- 
table  to  the  fireplace.  He  looked  at  the 
kettles,  then  at  the  coffee-urn,  which  stood 
on  a  shelf,  near  the  fireplace;  on  the  water 
bucket  near  the  door;  and  on  the  spoons 
and  knives  and  forks  and  saucers  and  plates, 
which  could  be  seen  through  the  half -open 
cupboard  door.  He  looked  at  his  father's 
gun,  which  hung  on  the  wall,  beside  the 
portrait  of  the  Danish  royal  family,  and  on 
the  geraniums  and  fuchsias,  which  blossomed 
in  the  window.  And  last,  he  caught  sight 
of  an  old  butterfly-snare  that  hung  on  the 
window  frame.  He  had  hardly  set  eyes  on 
that  butterfly-snare,  before  he  reached  over 
and  snatched  it  and  jumped  up  and  swung 
it  alongside  the  edge  of  the  chest.  He  was 
himself  astonished  at  the  luck  he  had.  He 
hardly  knew  how  he  had  managed  it — ^but 
he  had  actually  snared  the  elf.  The  poor 
little  chap  lay,  head  downward,  in  the  bottom 
of  the  long  snare,  and  could  not  free  himself. 


12 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


The  first  moment  the  boy  hadn't  the  least 
idea  what  he  should  do  with  his  prize.  He 
was  only  particular  to  swing  the  snare  back- 
ward and  for^vard,  to  prevent  the  elf  from 
getting  a  foothold  and  clambering  up. 

The  elf  began  to  speak,  and  begged,  oh! 
so  pitifully,  for  his  freedom.  He  had  brought 
them  good  luck — these  many  years — he  said, 
and  deserved  better  treatment.  Now,  if  the 
boy  would  set  him  free,  he  would  give  him  an 
old  coin,  a  silver  spoon,  and  a  gold  penny, 
as  big  as  the  case  on  his  father's  silver  watch. 

The  boy  didn't  think  that  this  was  much 
of  an  offer;  but  it  so  happened — that  after 
he  had  gotten  the  elf  in  his  power,  he  was 
afraid  of  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  entered 
into  an  agreement  with  something  weird  and 
uncanny;  something  which  did  not  belong  to 
his  world,  and  he  was  only  too  glad  to  get 
rid  of  the  horrid  thing. 

For  this  reason  he  agreed  at  once  to  the 
bargain,  and  held  the  snare  still,  so  the  elf 
could  crawl  out  of  it.  But  when  the  elf 
was  almost  out  of  the  snare,  the  boy  happened 
to  think  that  he  ought  to  have  bargained  for 


■    ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  13 

large  estates,  and  all  sorts  of  good  things. 
He  should  at  least  have  made  this  stipula- 
tion: that  the  elf  must  conjure  the  sermon 
into  his  head.  "What  a  fool  I  was  to  let 
him  go!"  thought  he,  and  began  to  shake 
the  snare  violently,  so  the  elf  would  tumble 
down  again. 

But  the  instant  the  boy  did  this,  he 
received  such  a  stinging  box  on  the  ear,  that 
he  thought  his  head  would  fly  in  pieces.  He 
was  dashed — first  against  one  wall,  then 
against  the  other;  he  sank  to  the  floor,  and 
lay  there — senseless. 

When  he  awoke,  he  was  alone  in  the  cottage. 
The  chest-lid  was  down,  and  the  butterfly- 
snare  hung  in  its  usual  place  by  the  window. 
If  he  had  not  felt  how  the  right  cheek  burned, 
from  that  box  on  the  ear,  he  would  have  been 
tempted  to  believe  the  whole  thing  had  been 
a  dream.  "At  any  rate,  father  and  mother 
will  be  sure  to  insist  that  it  was  nothing  else," 
thought  he.  "They  are  not  likely  to  make 
any  allowances  for  that  old  sermon,  on 
account  of  the  elf.  It's  best  for  me  to  get 
at  that  reading  again,"  thought  he. 


14  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

But  as  he  walked  toward  the  table,  he 
noticed  something  remarkable.  It  couldn't 
be  possible  that  the  cottage  had  grown.  But 
why  was  he  obliged  to  take  so  many  more 
steps  than  usual  to  get  to  the  table?  And 
what  was  the  matter  with  the  chair?  It 
looked  no  bigger  than  it  did  a  while  ago;  but 
now  he  had  to  step  on  the  rung  first,  and  then 
clamber  up  in  order  to  reach  the  seat.  It  was 
the  same  thing  with  the  table.  He  could 
not  look  over  the  top  without  climbing  to 
the  arm  of  the  chair. 

"  What  in  all  the  world  is  this  ?  "  said  the  boy. 
"  I  believe  the  elf  has  bewitched  both  the  arm- 
chair and  the  table — and  the  whole  cottage." 

The  Commentary  lay  on  the  table  and,  to 
all  appearances,  it  was  not  changed;  but 
there  must  have  been  something  queer  about 
that  too,  for  he  could  not  manage  to  read  a 
single  word  of  it,  without  actually  standing 
right  in  the  book  itself. 

He  read  a  couple  of  lines,  and  then  he 
chanced  to  look  up.  With  that,  his  glance 
fell  on  the  looking-glass;  and  then  he  cried 
aloud:  '"Look!    There's  another  one!" 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  15 

For  in  the  glass  he  saw  plainly  a  little, 
little  creature  who  was  dressed  in  a  hood  and 
leather  breeches. 

"  Why,  that  one  is  dressed  exactly  like  me!" 
said  the  boy,  and  clasped  his  hands  in  aston- 
ishment. But  then  he  saw  that  the  thing  in 
the  mirror  did  the  same  thing.  Then  he 
began  to  pull  his  hair  and  pinch  his  arms  and 
swing  round;  and  instantly  he  did  the  same 
thing  after  him;  he,  who  was  seen  in  the 
mirror. 

The  boy  ran  around  the  glass  several 
times,  to  see  if  there  wasn't  a  little  man  hid- 
den behind  it,  but  he  found  no  one  there ;  and 
then  he  began  to  shake  with  terror.  For  now 
he  understood  that  the  elf  had  bewitched 
him,  and  that  the  creature  whose  image  he 
saw  in  the  glass — ^was  he,  himself. 

THE    WILD    GEESE 

The  boy  simply  could  not  make  himself 
believe  that  he  had  been  transformed  into 
an  elf.  "  It  can't  be  anything  but  a  dream 
— a  queer  fancy,"  thought  he.     "If  I  wait 


i6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

few  moments,  I'll  surely  be  turned  back  into 
a  human  being  again." 

He  placed  himself  before  the  glass  and 
closed  his  eyes.  He  opened  them  again  after 
a  couple  of  minutes,  and  then  expected  to 
find  that  it  had  all  passed  over — ^but  it 
hadn't.  He  was — and  remained — just  as 
little.  In  other  respects,  he  was  the  same  as 
before.  The  thin,  straw-coloured  hair;  the 
freckles  across  his  nose;  the  patches  on  his 
leather  breeches  and  the  dams  on  his  stock- 
ings, were  all  like  themselves,  with  this  excep- 
tion— that  they  had  become  diminished. 

No,  it  would  do  no  good  for  him  to  stand 
still  and  wait,  of  this  he  was  certain.  He 
must  try  something  else.  And  he  thought 
the  wisest  thing  that  he  could  do  was  to  try 
and  find  the  elf,  and  make  his  peace  with  him. 

And  while  he  sought,  he  cried  and  prayed 
and  promised  everything  he  could  think  of. 
Nevermore  would  he  break  his  word  to  any- 
one; never  again  would  he  be  naughty;  and 
never,  never  would  he  fall  asleep  again  over 
the  sermon.  If  he  might  only  be  a 
human  being  once  more,  he  would  be  such  a 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  17 

good  and  helpful  and  obedient  boy.  But  no 
matter  how  much  he  promised — it  did  not 
help  him  the  least  little  bit. 

Suddenly  he  remembered  that  he  had  heard 
his  mother  say,  all  the  tiny  folk  made  their 
home  in  the  cowsheds;  and,  at  once,  he  con- 
cluded to  go  there,  and  see  if  he  couldn't 
find  the  elf.  It  was  a  lucky  thing  that  the 
cottage-door  stood  partly  open,  for  he  never 
could  have  reached  the  bolt  and  opened  it; 
but  now  he  slipped  through  without  any 
difficulty. 

When  he  came  out  in  the  hallway,  he  looked 
around  for  his  wooden  shoes ;  for  in  the  house, 
to  be  sure,  he  had  gone  about  in  his  stocking- 
feet.  He  wondered  how  he  should  manage 
with  these  big,  clumsy  wooden  shoes;  but 
just  then,  he  saw  a  pair  of  tiny  shoes  on  the 
doorstep.  When  he  observed  that  the  elf  had 
been  so  thoughtful  that  he  had  also  bewitched 
the  wooden  shoes,  he  was  even  more  troubled. 
It  was  evidently  his  intention  that  this  afflic- 
tion should  last  a  long  time. 

On  the  wooden  board-walk  in  front  of  the 
cottage,   hopped  a  gray    sparrow.     He  had 


1 8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

hardly  set  eyes  on  the  boy  before  he  called 
out:  "Teeteel  Teetee!  Look  at  Nils  goosey- 
boy!  Look  at  Thumb  ietot!  Look  at  Nils 
Holgersson  Thumbietot! " 

Instantly,  both  the  geese  and  the  chickens 
turned  and  stared  at  the  boy;  and  then  they 
set  up  a  fearful  cackling.  "  Cock-el- i-coo," 
crowed  the  rooster,  "good  enough  for  him! 
Cock-el- i-coo,  he  has  pulled  my  comb."  "  Ka, 
ka,  kada,  serves  him  right!"  cried  the  hens; 
and  with  that  they  kept  up  a  continuous 
cackle.  The  geese  got  together  in  a  tight 
group,  stuck  their  heads  together  and  asked: 
"Who  can  have  done  this?  Who  can  have 
done  this?" 

But  the  strangest  thing  of  all  was,  that  the 
boy  understood  what  they  said.  He  was  so 
astonished,  that  he  stood  there  as  if  rooted 
to  the  doorstep,  and  listened.  "It  must  be 
because  I  am  changed  into  an  elf,"  said  he. 
* '  This  is  probably  why  I  understand  bird- talk. ' ' 

He  thought  it  was  unbearable  that  the  hens 
would  not  stop  saying  that  it  served  him 
right.  He  threw  a  stone  at  them  and  shouted : 
"Shut  up,  you  pack!" 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  19 

But  it  hadn't  occurred  to  him  before,  that 
he  was  no  longer  the  sort  of  boy  the  hens 
need  fear.  The  whole  henyard  made  a  rush 
for  him,  and  formed  a  ring  around  him;  then 
they  all  cried  at  once:  "Ka,  ka,  kada,  served 
you  right!     Ka,  ka,  kada,  served  you  right!" 

The  boy  tried  to  get  away,  but  the  chickens 
ran  after  him  and  screamed,  until  he  thought 
he'd  lose  his  hearing.  It  is  more  than  likely 
that  he  never  could  have  gotten  away  from 
them,  if  the  house  cat  hadn't  come  along 
just  then.  As  soon  as  the  chickens  saw  the 
cat,  they  quieted  down  and  pretended  to 
be  thinking  of  nothing  else  than  just  to 
scratch  in  the  earth  for  worms. 

Immediately  the  boy  ran  up  to  the  cat. 
"  You  dear  pussy!  "  said  he,  "  you  must  know 
all  the  corners  and  hiding  places  about  here? 
You'll  be  a  good  little  kitty  and  tell  me  where 
I  can  find  the  elf." 

The  cat  did  not  reply  at  once.  He  seated 
himself,  curled  his  tail  into  a  graceful  ring 
around  his  paws — and  stared  at  the  boy.  It 
was  a  large  black  cat  with  one  white  spot  on 
his  chest.     His  fur  lay  sleek  and  soft,  and 


20 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


shone  in  the  sunUght.  The  claws  were  drawn 
in,  and  the  eyes  were  a  dull  gray,  with  just 
a  little  narrow  dark  streak  down  the  centre. 
The  cat  looked  thoroughly  good-natured  and 
inoffensive. 

"  I  know  well  enough  where  the  elf  lives," 
he  said  in  a  soft  voice,  "but  that  doesn't  say 
that  I'm  going  to  tell  you  about  it." 

"  Dear  pussy,  you  must  tell  me  where  the 
elf  lives!"  said  the  boy.  "Can't  you  see 
how  he  has  bewitched  me?" 

The  cat  opened  his  eyes  a  little,  so  that  the 
green  wickedness  began  to  shine  forth.  He 
spun  round  and  purred  with  satisfaction 
before  he  replied.  "  Shall  I  perhaps  help  you 
because  you  have  so  often  grabbed  me  by  the 
tail? "  he  said  at  last. 

Then  the  boy  was  furious  and  forgot 
entirely  how  little  and  helpless  he  was  now. 
"Oh!  I  can  pull  your  tail  again,  I  can,"  said 
he,  and  ran  toward  the  cat. 

The  next  instant  the  cat  was  so  changed 
that  the  boy  could  scarcely  believe  it  was  the 
same  animal.  Every  separate  hair  on  his 
body  stood  on  end.     The  back  was  bent;  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


21 


legs  had  become  elongated;  the  claws  scraped 
the  ground;  the  tail  had  grown  thick  and 
short;  the  ears  were  laid  back;  the  mouth 
was  frothy ;  and  the  eyes  were  wide  open  and 
glistened  like  sparks  of  red  fire. 

The  boy  didn't  want  to  let  himself  be 
scared  by  a  cat,  and  he  took  a  step  forward. 
Then  the  cat  made  one  spring  and  landed 
right  on  the  boy;  knocked  him  down  and 
stood  over  him — his  forepaws  on  his  chest, 
and  his  jaws  wide  apart — over  his  throat. 

The  boy  felt  how  the  sharp  claws  sank 
through  his  vest  and  shirt  and  into  his  skin; 
and  how  the  sharp  eye-teeth  tickled  his  throat. 
He  shrieked  for  help,  as  loudly  as  he  could, 
but  no  one  came.  He  thought  surely 
that  his  last  hour  had  come.  Then  he  felt 
that  the  cat  drew  in  his  claws  and  let  go  the 
hold  on  his  throat. 

"There!"  he  said,  "that  will  do  now.  I'll 
let  you  go  this  time,  for  my  mistress's  sake. 
I  only  wanted  you  to  know  which  one  of  us 
two  has  the  power  now." 

With  that  the  cat  walked  away — looking  as 
smooth  and  pious  as  he  did  when  he  first 


22  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

appeared  on  the  scene.  The  boy  was  so 
crestfallen  that  he  didn't  say  a  word,  but 
only  hurried  to  the  cowhouse  to  look  for  the 
elf. 

There  were  not  more  than  three  cows,  all 
told.  But  when  the  boy  came  in,  there  was 
such  a  bellowing  and  such  a  kick-up,  that  one 
might  easily  have  believed  that  there  were 
at  least  thirty. 

"Moo,  moo,  moo,"  bellowed  Mayrose.  "It 
is  well  there  is  such  a  thing  as  justice  in  this 
world." 

"Moo,  moo,  moo,"  sang  the  three  of  them 
in  unison.  He  couldn't  hear  what  they  said, 
for  each  one  tried  to  out-bellow  the  others. 

The  boy  wanted  to  ask  after  the  elf,  but  he 
couldn't  make  himself  heard  because  the  cows 
were  in  full  uproar.  They  carried  on  as  they 
used  to  do  when  he  let  a  strange  dog  in  on 
them.  They  kicked  with  their  hind  legs, 
shook  their  necks,  stretched  their  heads,  and 
measured  the  distance  with  their  horns. 

"Come  here,  you!"  said  Mayrose,  "And 
you'll  get  a  kick  that  you  won't  forget  in  a 
hurry!" 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


23 


"Come  here,"  said  Gold  Lily,  "and  you 
shall  dance  on  my  horns! " 

"  Come  here,  and  you  shall  taste  how  it  felt 
when  3^ou  threw  your  wooden  shoes  at  me, 
as  you  did  last  summer! "  bawled  Star. 

"Come  here,  and  you  shall  be  repaid  for 
that  wasp  you  let  loose  in  my  ear! "  growled 
Gold  Lily. 

Mayrose  was  the  oldest  and  the  wi-sest  of 
them,  and  she  was  the  very  maddest.  "  Come 
here!"  said  she,  "that  I  may  pay  you  back 
for  the  many  times  that  you  have  jerked  the 
milk  pail  away  from  your  mother;  and  for 
all  the  snares  you  laid  for  her,  when  she  came 
carrying  the  milk  pails;  and  for  all  the  tears 
which  she  has  stood  here  and  wept  over 
you!" 

The  boy  wanted  to  tell  them  how  he 
regretted  that  he  had  been  unkind  to  them; 
and  that  never,  never — from  now  on — should 
he  be  anything  but  good,  if  they  would  only 
tell  him  where  the  elf  was.  But  the  cows 
didn't  listen  to  him.  They  made  such  a 
racket  that  he  began  to  fear  one  of  them 
would    succeed    in    breaking    loose;  and    he 


24  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

thought  that  the  best  thing  for  him  to  do, 
was  to  go  quietly  away  from  the  cowhouse. 

When  he  came  out,  he  was  thoroughly 
disheartened.  He  could  understand  that  no 
one  on  the  place  wanted  to  help  him  find 
the  elf.  And  little  good  would  it  do  him, 
probably,  if  the  elf  were  found 

He  crawled  up  on  the  broad  hedge  which 
fenced  in  the  farm,  and  which  was  overgrown 
with  briers  and  lichen.  There  he  sat  down 
to  think  about  how  it  would  go  with  him,  if 
he  never  became  a  human  being  again.  When 
father  and  mother  came  home  from  church, 
there  would  be  a  surprise  for  them.  Yes, 
a  surprise — it  would  be  all  over  the  land ;  and 
people  would  come  flocking  from  East  Vem- 
minghog,  and  from  Torp,  and  from  Skerup. 
The  whole  Vemminghog  township  would  come 
to  stare  at  him.  Perhaps  father  and  mother 
would  take  him  with  them,  and  show  him  at 
the  market  place  in  Kivik. 

No,  that  was  too  horrible  to  think  about. 
He  would  rather  that  no  human  being  should 
ever  see  him  again. 

His  unhappiness  was  simply  frightful!    No 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  25 

one  in  all  the  world  was  so  unhappy  as  he. 
He  was  no  lunger  a  human  being — ^but  a 
freak. 

Little  by  little  he  began  to  comprehend 
what  it  meant — to  be  no  longer  human.  He 
was  separated  from  everything  now;  he  could 
no  longer  play  with  other  boys,  he  could 
not  take  charge  of  the  farm  after  his  parents 
were  gone;  and  certainly  no  girl  would  think 
of  manying  him. 

He  sat  and  looked  at  his  home.  It  was  a 
little  log  house,  which  lay  as  if  it  had  been 
crushed  down  to  earth,  under  the  high,  sloping 
roof.  The  outhouses  were  also  small;  and 
the  patches  of  ground  were  so  narrow  that 
a  horse  could  barely  turn  around  on  them. 
But  little  and  poor  though  the  place  was, 
it  was  much  too  good  for  him  now.  He 
couldn't  ask  for  any  better  place  than  a  hole 
under  the  stable  floor. 

It  was  wondrously  beautiful  weather!  It 
budded,  and  it  rippled,  and  it  murmured,  and 
it  twittered — all  around  him.  But  he  sat  there 
with  such  a  heavy  sorrow.  He  should  never 
be  happy  any  more  about  anything. 


26  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Never  had  he  seen  the  skies  as  blue  as  they 
were  to-day.  Birds  of  passage  came  on  their 
travels.  They  came  from  foreign  lands,  and 
had  travelled  over  the  East  sea,  by  way  of 
Smygahuk,  and  were  now  on  their  way  North. 
They  were  of  many  different  kinds;  but  he 
was  only  familiar  with  the  wild  geese,  who 
came  flying  in  two  long  rows,  which  met  at 
an  angle. 

Several  flocks  of  wild  geese  had  already 
flown  by.  They  flew  very  high,  still  he 
could  hear  how  they  shrieked :  "To  the  hills! 
Now  we're  off  to  the  hills! " 

When  the  wild  geese  saw  the  tame  geese, 
who  walked  about  the  farm,  they  sank  nearer 
the  earth,  and  called:  "Come  along!  Come 
along!     We're  off  to  the  hills!" 

The  tame  geese  could  not  resist  the  tempta- 
tion to  raise  their  heads  and  listen,  but  they 
answered  very  sensibly:  "We're  pretty  well 
off  where  we  are.  We're  pretty  well  off 
where  we  are." 

It  was,  as  we  have  said,  an  uncommonly 
fine  day,  with  an  atmosphere  that  it  .nust 
have  been  a  real  delight  to  fly  in,  so  light  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  27 

bracing.  And  with  each  new  wild  geese- 
flock  that  flew  by,  the  tame  geese  became 
more  and  more  unruly.  A  couple  of  times 
they  flapped  their  wings,  as  if  they  had  half 
a  mind  to  fly  along.  But  then  an  old  mother- 
goose  would  always  say  to  them:  "Now 
don't  be  silly.  Those  creatures  will  have  to 
suffer  both  hunger  and  cold." 

There  was  a  young  gander  whom  the  wild 
geese  had  fired  with  a  passion  for  adventure. 
"  If  another  flock  comes  this  way,  I'll  follow 
them,"  said  he. 

Then  there  came  a  new  flock,  who  shrieked 
like  the  others,  and  the  young  gander 
answered:  "Wait  a  minute!  Wait  a  minute! 
I'm  coming." 

He  spread  his  wings  and  raised  himself 
into  the  air;  but  he  was  so  unaccustomed  to 
flying,  that  he  fell  to  the  ground  again. 

At  any  rate,  the  wild  geese  must  have  heard 
his  call,  for  they  turned  and  flew  back  slowly 
to  see  if  he  was  coming. 

"Wait,  wait!"  he  cried,  and  made  another 
attempt  to  fl}^ 

All  this  the  boy  heard,  where  he  lay  on 


28  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

the  hedge.  "  It  would  be  a  great  pity," 
thought  he,  "  if  the  big  goosey-gander  should 
go  away.  It  would  be  a  big  loss  to  father  and 
mother  if  he  was  gone  when  they  came  home 
from  church." 

When  he  thought  of  this,  once  again  he 
entirely  forgot  that  he  was  little  and  helpless. 
He  took  one  leap  right  down  into  the  goose- 
flock,  and  threw  his  arms  around  the  neck 
of  the  goosey-gander.  "Oh,  no!  You  don't 
fly  away  this  time,  sir!"  cried  he. 

But  just  about  then,  the  gander  was  con- 
sidering how  he  should  go  to  work  to  raise 
himself  from  the  ground.  He  couldn't  stop 
to  shake  the  boy  off,  hence  he  had  to  go 
along  with  him — up  in  the  air. 

They  bore  on  toward  the  heights  so  rap- 
idly, that  the  boy  fairly  gasped.  Before  he 
had  time  to  think  that  he  ought  to  let  go  his 
hold  around  the  gander's  neck,  he  was  so  high 
up  that  he  would  have  been  killed  instantly, 
if  he  had  fallen  to  the  ground. 

The  only  thing  that  he  could  do  to  make 
himself  a  little  more  comfortable,  was  to  try 
and  get  upon  the  gander's  back.     And  there 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  29 

he  wriggled  himself  forthwith;  but  not  with- 
out considerable  trouble.  And  it  was  not 
an  easy  matter,  either,  to  hold  himself  secure 
on  the  slippery  back,  between  two  swaying 
wings.  He  had  to  dig  deep  into  feathers  and 
down  with  both  hands,  to  keep  from  tumbling 
to  the  ground. 

THE    BIG    CHECKED    CLOTH 

The  boy  had  grown  so  giddy  that  it  was  a 
long  while  before  he  came  to  himself.  The 
winds  howled  and  beat  against  him,  and  the 
rustle  of  feathers  and  swaying  of  wings 
sounded  like  a  whole  storm.  Thirteen  geese 
flew  around  him,  flapping  their  wings  and 
honking.  They  danced  before  his  eyes  and  they 
buzzed  in  his  ears.  He  didn't  know  whether 
they  flew  high  or  low,  or  in  what  direction 
they  were  travelling. 

After  a  bit,  he  regained  just  enough  sense 
to  understand  that  he  ought  to  find  out  where 
the  geese  were  taking  him.  But  this  was  not 
so  easy,  for  he  didn't  know  how  he  should 
ever  muster  up  courage  enough  to  look  down. 
He  was  sure  he'd  faint  if  he  attempted  it. 


30  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  wild  geese  were  not  flying  very  high 
because  the  new  travelHng  companion  could 
not  breathe  in  the  very  thinnest  air.  For 
his  sake  they  also  flew  a  little  slower  than 
usual. 

At  last  the  boy  just  made  himself  cast  one 
glance  down  to  earth.  Then  he  thought  that 
a  great  big  rug  lay  spread  beneath  him, 
which  was  made  up  of  an  incredible  number 
of  large  and  small  checks. 

"Where  in  all  the  world  am  I  now?"  he 
wondered. 

He  saw  nothing  but  check  upon  check. 
Some  were  broad  and  ran  crosswise,  and  some 
were  long  and  narrow — all  over,  there  were 
angles  and  corners.  Nothing  was  round, 
and  nothing  was  crooked. 

"What  kind  of  a  big,  checked  cloth  is  this 
that  I'm  looking  down  on?"  said  the  boy  to 
himself  without  expecting  anyone  to  answer 
him. 

But  instantly,  the  wild  geese  who  flew 
about  him,  called  out :  ' '  Fields  and  meadows. 
Fields  and  meadows." 

Then  he  understood  that  the  big,  checked 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  31 

cloth  he  was  travelling  over  was  the  flat 
land  of  southern  Sweden;  and  he  began  to 
comprehend  why  it  looked  so  checked  and 
multi-coloured.  The  bright  green  checks  he 
recognised  first;  they  were  rye  fields  that 
had  been  sown  in  the  fall,  and  had  kept  them- 
selves green  under  the  winter  snows.  The 
yellowish-gray  checks  were  stubble-fields — 
the  remains  of  the  oat-crop  which  had  grown 
there  the  summer  before.  The  brownish 
ones  were  old  clover  meadows :  and  the  black 
ones,  deserted  grazing  lands  or  ploughed-up 
fallow  pastures.  The  brown  checks  with 
the  yellow  edges  were,  undoubtedly,  beech- 
tree  forests;  for  in  these  you'll  find  the  big 
trees  which  grow  in  the  heart  of  the  forest 
-naked  in  winter;  while  the  little  beech- 
trees,  which  grow  along  the  borders,  keep 
their  dry,  yellowed  leaves  way  into  the  spring. 
There  were  also  dark  checks  with  gray  centres : 
these  were  the  large,  built-up  estates  en- 
circled by  the  small  cottages  with  their  blacken- 
ing straw  roofs,  and  their  stone-divided  land- 
plots.  And  then  there  were  checks  green  in 
the  middle  with  brown  borders:  these  were 


__r?*-^J;'#^~. 


32  ADVENTURES  OF   NILS 

the  orchards,  where  the  grass-carpets  were 
already  turning  green,  although  the  trees  and 
bushes  around  them  were  still  in  their  nude, 
brown  bark. 

The  boy  could  not  keep  from  laughing 
when  he  saw  how  checked  everything  looked. 

But  when  the  wild  geese  heard  him  laugh, 
they  called  out — kind  o'  reprovingly:  "Fertile 
and  good  land.     Fertile  and  good  land." 

The  boy  had  already  become  serious. 
"To  think  that  you  can  laugh;  you,  who 
have  met  with  the  most  terrible  misfortune 
that  can  possibly  happen  to  a  human  being!" 
thought  he.  And  for  a  moment  he  was  pretty 
serious ;  but  it  was  n't  long  before  he  was 
laughing  again. 

Now  that  he  had  grown  somewhat  c  ccus- 
tomed  to  the  ride  and  the  speed,  so  that  he 
could  think  of  something  besides  holding 
himself  on  the  gander's  back,  he  began  to 
notice  how  full  the  air  was  of  birds  flying 
northward.  And  there  was  a  shouting  and 
a  calling  [rom  flock  to  flock.  "So  you  came 
over  to-dcy?"  shrieked  some.  "  Yes,"  answered 
the  geese.     "How  do  you  think  the  spring's 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  33 

getting  on?"  "Not  a  leaf  on  the  trees  and 
ice-cold  water  in  the  lakes,"  came  back  the 
answer. 

When  the  geese  flew  over  a  place  where 
they  saw  any  tame,  half-naked  fowl,  they 
shouted:  "What's  the  name  of  this  place? 
What's  the  name  of  this  place?"  Then  the 
roosters  cocked  their  heads  and  answered: 
"  Its  name's  Lillgarde  this  year — the  same  as 
last  year;  the  same  as  last  year." 

Most  of  the  cottages  were  probably  named 
afcer  their  owners — ^which  is  the  custom  in 
Sk^ne.  But  instead  of  saying  this  is  "Per 
Matssons,"  or  "Ola  Bossons,"  the  roosters 
hit  upon  the  kind  of  names  which,  to  their 
way  of  thinking,  were  more  appropriate. 
Those  who  lived  on  small  farms,  and  belonged 
to  poor  cottagers,  cried:  "This  place  is 
called  Grainscarce. ' '  And  those  who  belonged 
to  the  poorest  hut-dwellers  screamed:  "The 
name  of  this  place  is  Little-to-eat,  Little-to- 
eat,  Little-to-eat." 

The  big,  well-cared-for  farms  got  high- 
sounding  names  from  the  roosters — such  as 
Luckymeadow,  Eggberga  and  Moneyville. 


34  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

But  the  roosters  on  the  great  landed  estates 
were  too  high  and  mighty  to  condescend  to 
anything  Hke  jesting.  One  of  them  crowed 
and  called  out  with  such  gusto  that  it  sounded 
as  if  he  wanted  to  be  heard  clear  up  to  the 
sun:  "This  is  Herr  Dybeck's  estate;  the 
same  this  year  as  last  year;  this  year  as  last 
year." 

A  little  further  on  strutted  one  rooster  who 
crowed:  "This  is  Swanholm,  surely  all  the 
world  knows  that!" 

The  boy  observed  that  the  geese  did  not 
fly  straight  forward;  but  zigzagged  hither 
and  thither  over  the  whole  South  country, 
just  as  though  they  were  glad  to  be  in  SkS,ne 
again  and  wanted  to  pay  their  respects  to 
every  separate  place. 

They  came  to  one  place  where  there  were 
a  number  of  big,  clumsy-looking  buildings 
with  great,  tall  chimneys,  and  all  around 
these  were  a  lot  of  smaller  houses.  "This 
is  Jordberga  Sugar  Refinery,"  cried  the 
roosters.  The  boy  shuddered  as  he  sat  there 
on  the  goose's  back.  He  ought  to  have 
recognised  this  place,  for  it  was  not  very  far 
from  his  home. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


35 


Here  he  had  worked  the  year  before  as  a 
watch  boy;  but,  to  be  sure,  nothing  was 
exactly  Hke  itself  when  one  saw  it  like  that — 
from  up  above. 

And  think!  Just  think!  Osa  the  goose 
girl  and  little  Mats,  who  were  his  comrades 
last  year!  Indeed  the  boy  would  have  been 
glad  to  know  if  they  still  were  anywhere  about 
here.  Fancy  what  they  would  have  said, 
had  they  suspected  that  he  was  flying  over 
their  heads! 

Soon  Jordberga  was  lost  to  sight,  and  they 
travelled  toward  Svedala  and  Skaber  Lake 
and  back  again  over  Gorringe  Cloister  and 
Hackeberga.  The  boy  saw  more  of  Skane 
in  this  one  day  than  he  had  ever  seen  before 
— in  all  the  years  that  he  had  lived. 

Whenever  the  wild  geese  happened  across 
any  tame  geese,  they  had  the  best  fun !  They 
flew  forward  very  slowly  and  called  down: 
"We're  off  to  the  hills.  Are  you  coming 
along?     Are  you  coming  along?" 

But  the  tame  geese  answered:  "It's  still 
winter  in  this  country.  You're  out  too  soon. 
Fly  back!     Fly  back!" 


S6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  wild  geese  lowered  themselves  that 
they  might  be  heard  a  little  better,  and  called : 
"Come  along!  We'll  teach  you  how  to  fly 
and  swim." 

Then  the  tame  geese  got  mad  and  wouldn't 
answer  them  with  a  single  honk. 

The  wild  geese  sank  themselves  still  lower — 
until  they  almost  touched  the  groimd — then, 
quick  as  lightning,  they  raised  themselves, 
just  as  if  they'd  been  terribly  frightened. 
"Oh,  oh,  oh!"  they  exclaimed.  "Those  things 
were  not  geese.  They  were  only  sheep,  they 
were  only  sheep." 

The  ones  on  the  ground  were  beside  them- 
selves with  rage  and  shrieked:  "May  you 
be  shot,  the  whole  lot  o'  you!  The  whole 
lot  o'  you!" 

When  the  boy  heard  all  this  teasing  he 
laughed.  Then  he  remembered  how  badly 
things  had  gone  with  him,  and  he  cried. 
But  the  next  second,  he  was  laughing  again. 

Never  before  had  he  ridden  so  fast;  and  to 
ride  fast  and  recklessly — that  he  had  always 
liked.  And,  of  course,  he  had  never  dreamed 
that  it  could  be  as  fresh  and  bracing  as  it 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


37 


was,  up  in  the  air;  or  that  there  rose  from 
the  earth  such  a  fine  scent  of  resin  and  soil. 
Nor  had  he  ever  dreamed  what  it  could  be 
like — to  ride  so  high  above  the  earth.  It  was 
just  like  flying  away  from  sorrow  and  trouble 
and  annoyances  of  every  kind  that  could  be 
thought  of. 


AKKA  FROM  KEBNEKAISE 


EVENING 

THE  big  tame  goosey-gander  that  had 
followed  them  up  in  the  air,  felt  very 
proud  of  being  permitted  to  travel  back  and 
forth  over  the  south  country  with  the  wild 
geese,  and  crack  jokes  with  the  tame  birds. 
But  in  spite  of  his  keen  delight,  he  began  to 
tire  as  the  afternoon  wore  on.  He  tried  to 
take  deeper  breaths  and  quicker  wing-strokes, 
but  even  so  he  remained  several  goose-lengths 
behind  the  others. 

When  the  wild  geese,  who  flew  last,  noticed 
that  the  tame  one  couldn't  keep  up  with 
them,  they  began  to  call  to  the  goose  who 
rode  in  the  centre  of  the  angle  and  led  the 
procession:  "Akka  from  Kebnekaise!  Akka 
from  Kebnekaise!"  "What  do  you  want  of 
me  ? ' '  asked  the  leader.    ' '  The  white  one  will  be 

38 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  39 

left  behind;  the  white  one  will  be  left  behind." 
"Tell  him  it's  easier  to  fly  fast  than  slow!" 
called  the  leader,  and  raced  on  as  before. 

The  goosey-gander  certainly  tried  to  follow 
the  advice,  and  increase  his  speed;  but  then 
he  became  so  exhausted  that  he  sank  way 
down  to  the  drooping  willows  that  bordered  the 
fields    and   meadows. 

"Akka,  Akka,  Akka  from  Kebnekaise!" 
cried  those  who  flew  last  and  saw  what  a  hard 
time  he  was  having.  "What  do  you  want 
now?"  asked  the  leader — and  she  sounded 
awfully  angry.  "The  white  one  sinks  to  the 
earth;  the  white  one  sinks  to  the  earth." 
"Tell  him  it's  easier  to  fly  high  than  low!" 
shouted  th'^  leader,  and  she  didn't  slow  up 
the  least  little  bit,  but  raced  on  as  before. 

The  goosey-gander  tried  also  to  follow  this 
advice;  but  when  he  wanted  to  raise  him- 
self, he  became  so  winded  that  he  almost 
burst  his  breast. 

"Akka,  Akka!"  again  cried  those  who 
flew  last.  "Can't  you  let  me  fly  in  peace?" 
asked  the  leader,  and  she  sounded  even 
madder  than  before. 


40  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"The  white  one  is  ready  to  collapse." 
"Tell  him  that  he  who  has  not  the  strength 
to  fly  with  the  flock,  can  go  back  home!" 
cried  the  leader.  She  certainly  had  no  idea 
of  decreasing  her  speed — ^but  raced  on  as  before. 

"Oh!  is  that  the  way  the  wind  blows," 
thought  the  goosey-gander.  He  understood 
at  once  that  the  wild  geese  had  never  intended 
to  take  him  along  up  to  Lappland.  They 
had  only  lured  him  away  from  home  in  sport. 

He  felt  thoroughly  exasperated.  To  think 
that  his  strength  should  fail  him  now,  so 
he  wouldn't  be  able  to  show  these  tramps 
that  even  a  tame  goose  was  good  for  some- 
thing !  But  the  most  provoking  thing  of  all  was 
that  he  had  fallen  in  with  Akka  from  Kebne- 
kaise.  Tame  goose  that  he  was,  he  had  heard 
about  a  leader  goose,  named  Akka,  who  was 
more  than  a  hundred  years  old.  She  had  such 
a  big  name  that  the  best  wild  geese  in  the  world 
followed  her.  But  no  one  had  such  a  con- 
tempt for  tame  geese  as  Akka  and  her  flock, 
and  gladly  would  he  have  shown  them  that 
he  was  their  equal. 

He  flew  slowly  behind  the  rest,  while  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  41 

deliberated  whether  he  should  turn  back  or 
continue.  Finally,  the  little  creature  that 
he  carried  on  his  back  said:  "Dear  Morten 
Goosey-gander,  you  know  well  enough  that 
it  is  simply  impossible  for  you,  who  have 
never  flown,  to  go  with  the  wild  geese  all  the 
way  up  to  Lappland.  Won't  you  turn  back 
before  you  kill  yourself?" 

But  the  farmer's  lad  was  about  the  worst 
thing  the  goosey-gander  knew  anything  about, 
and  as  soon  as  it  had  dawned  on  him  that  this 
puny  creature  actually  believed  that  he 
couldn't  make  the  trip,  he  decided  to  stick  it 
out.  "  If  you  say  another  word  about  this, 
I'll  drop  you  into  the  first  ditch  we  ride  over! " 
said  he,  and  at  the  same  time  his  fury  gave 
him  so  much  strength  that  he  began  to  fly 
almost  as  well  as  any  of  the  others. 

It  isn't  likely  that  he  could  have  kept  this 
pace  up  very  long,  neither  was  it  necessary; 
for,  just  then,  the  sun  sank  quickly;  and  at 
sunset  the  geese  flew  down,  and  before  the 
boy  and  the  goosey-gander  knew  what  had 
happened,  they  stood  on  the  shores  of  Vomb 
Lake. 


42  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

They  probably  intend  that  we  shall  spend 
th3  night  here,"  thought  the  boy,  and  jumped 
down  from  the  goose's  back. 

He  stood  on  a  narrow  beach  by  a  fair-sized 
lake.  It  was  ugly  to  look  upon,  because  it  was 
almost  entirely  covered  with  an  ice-crust 
that  was  blackened  and  uneven  and  full  of 
cracks  and  holes — as  spring  ice  generally  is. 

The  ice  was  already  breaking  up.  It 
was  loose  and  floating  and  had  a  broad 
belt  of  dark,  shiny  water  all  around  it;  but 
there  was  still  enough  of  it  left  to  spread  chill 
and  winter  terror  over  the  place. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  lake  there  appeared 
to  be  an  open  and  light  country,  but  where 
the  geese  had  lighted  there  was  a  thick  pine- 
growth.  It  looked  as  if  the  forest  of  firs  and 
pines  had  the  power  to  bind  the  winter  to 
itself.  E ver5rwhere  else  the  ground  was  bare ; 
but  beneath  the  sharp  pine-branches  lay  snow 
that  had  been  melting  and  freezing,  melting 
and  freezing,  until  it  was  as  hard  as  ice. 

The  boy  thought  he  had  struck  an  arctic 
wilderness,  and  he  was  so  miserable  that  he 
wanted    to    scream.     He    was    hungry    too. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  43 

He  hadn't  eaten  a  bite  the  whole  day.  But 
where  should  he  find  any  food?  Nothing 
eatable  grew  on  either  ground  or  tree  in  the 
month  of  March. 

Yes,  where  was  he  to  find  food,  and  who 
would  give  him  shelter,  and  who  would  fix 
his  bed,  and  who  would  protect  him  from  the 
wild  beasts? 

For  now  the  sun  was  away  and  frost  came 
from  the  lake,  and  darkness  sank  down  from 
heaven,  and  terror  stole  forward  on  the 
twilight's  trail,  and  in  the  forest  it  began  to 
patter  and  rustle. 

Now  the  good  humour  which  the  boy  had 
felt  when  he  was  up  in  the  air,  was  gone,  and 
in  his  misery  he  looked  around  for  his  travel- 
ling companions.  He  had  no  one  but  them 
to  cling  to  now. 

Then  he  saw  that  the  goosey-gander  was 
having  even  a  worse  time  of  it  than  he.  He 
was  lying  prostrate  on  the  spot  where  he  had 
alighted ;  and  it  looked  as  if  he  were  ready  to 
die.  His  neck  lay  flat  against  the  ground,  his 
eyes  were  closed,  and  his  breathing  sounded 
like  a  feeble  hissing. 


44  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"Dear  Morten  Goosey-Gander,"  said  the 
boy,  "try  to  get  a  swallow  of  water!  It 
isn't  two  steps  to  the  lake." 

But  the  goosey-gander  didn't  stir. 

The  boy  had  certainly  been  cruel  to  all 
animals,  and  to  the  goosey-gander  in  times 
gone  by;  but  now  he  felt  that  the  goosey- 
gander  was  the  only  comfort  he  had  left, 
and  he  was  dreadfully  afraid  of  losing  him. 

At  once  the  boy  began  to  push  and  drag 
him,  to  get  him  into  the  water,  but  the  goosey- 
gander  was  big  and  heavy,  and  it  was  mighty 
hard  work  for  the  boy;  but  at  last  he 
succeeded. 

The  goosey-gander  got  in  head  first.  For 
an  instant  he  lay  motionless  in  the  slime,  but 
soon  he  poked  up  his  head,  shook  the  water 
from  his  eyes  and  sniffed.  Then  he  swam, 
proudly,  between  reeds  and  seaweed. 

The  wild  geese  were  in  the  lake  before  him. 
They  had  not  looked  around  for  either  the 
goosey-gander  or  for  his  rider,  but  had  made 
straight  for  the  water.  They  had  bathed 
and  primped,  and  now  they  lay  and  gulped 
half-rotten  pond-weed  and  water-clover. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  4g 

The  white  goosey-gander  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  spy  a  perch.  He  grabbed  it  quickly, 
swam  ashore  with  it,  and  laid  it  down  in  front 
of  the  boy.  "  Here's  a  thank  you  for  helping 
me  into  the  water,"  said  he. 

It  was  the  first  time  the  boy  had  heard  a 
friendly  word  that  day.  He  was  so  happy 
that  he  wanted  to  throw  his  arms  around  the 
goosey-gander's  neck,  but  he  refrained;  and 
he  was  also  thankful  for  the  gift.  At  first 
he  must  have  thought  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  eat  raw  fish,  and  then  he  had 
a  notion  to  try  it. 

He  felt  to  see,  if  he  still  had  his  sheath-knife 
with  him;  and,  sure  enough,  there  it  hung — 
on  the  back  button  of  his  trousers,  although 
it  was  so  diminished  that  it  was  hardly  as 
long  as  a  match.  Well,  at  any  rate,  it  served 
to  scale  and  cleanse  fish  with;  and  it  wasn't 
long  before  the  perch  was  eaten. 

When  the  boy  had  satisfied  his  hunger,  he 
felt  a  little  ashamed  because  he  had  been  able 
to  eat  a  raw  thing.  "  It's  evident  that  I'm 
not  a  human  being  any  longer,  but  a  real 
elf,"   thought  he. 


46  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

While  the  boy  ate,  the  goosey-gander  stood 
silently  beside  him.  But  when  he  had  swal- 
lowed the  last  bite,  he  said  in  a  low  voice : 
"It's  a  fact  that  we  have  run  across  a  stuck- 
up  goose  folk  who  despise  all  tame  birds." 

"  Yes,  I've  observed  that,"  said  the  boy. 

"What  a  triumph  it  would  be  for  me  if  I 
could  follow  them  clear  up  to  Lappland,  and 
show  them  that  even  a  tame  goose  can  do 
things!" 

"Y-e-e-s,"  said  the  boy,  and  drawled  it 
out  because  he  didn't  believe  the  goosey- 
gander  could  ever  do  it;  yet  he  didn't  wish 
to  contradict  him.  "  But  I  don't  think  I  can 
get  along  all  alone  on  such  a  journey,"  said 
the  goosey-gander.  "I'd  like  to  ask  if  you 
couldn't  come  along  and  help  me  ? "  The  boy, 
of  course,  hadn't  expected  anything  but  to 
return  to  his  home  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
he  was  so  surprised  that  he  hardly  knew  what 
he  should  reply.  "  I  thought  that  we  were 
enemies,  you  and  I,"  said  he.  But  this 
the  goosey-gander  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
entirely.  He  only  remembered  tliat  the  boy 
had  but  just  saved  his  life. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  47 

'  I  suppose  I  really  ought  to  go  home  to 
father  and  mother,"  said  the  boy.  '*0h!  I'll 
get  you  back  to  them  some  time  in  the  fall," 
said  the  goosey-gander.  "  I  shall  not  leave 
you  until  I  put  you  down  on  your  own  door- 
step." 

The  boy  thought  it  might  be  just  as  well 
for  him  if  he  escaped  showing  himself  before 
his  parents  for  a  while.  He  was  not  dis- 
inclined to  favour  the  scheme,  and  was  just 
on  the  point  of  saying  that  he  agreed  to  it — 
when  they  heard  a  loud  rumbling  behind 
them.  It  was  the  wild  geese  who  had  come 
up  from  the  lake — all  at  one  time — and  stood 
shaking  the  water  from  their  backs.  After 
that  they  arranged  themselves  in  a  long  row 
— ^with  the  leader-goose  in  the  centre — and 
came  toward  them. 

As  the  white  goosey-gander  sized  up  the 
wild  geese,  he  felt  ill  at  ease.  He  had 
expected  that  they  should  be  more  like  tame 
geese,  and  that  he  should  feel  a  closer  kinship 
with  them.  They  were  much  smaller  than 
he,  and  none  of  them  were  white.  ^^  They  v^ere 
all    gray    with  a  sprinkling  of  brown.     He 


4« 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


was  almost  afraid  of  their  eyes.  They  were 
yellow,  and  shone  as  if  a  fire  had  been  kindled 
back  of  them.  The  goosey-gander  had  always 
been  taught  that  it  was  most  fitting  to  move 
slowly  and  with  a  rolling  motion,  but  these 
creatures  did  not  walk — they  half  ran.  He 
grew  most  alarmed,  however,  when  he  looked 
at  their  feet.  These  were  large,  and  the  soles 
were  torn  and  ragged-looking.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  the  wild  geese  never  questioned 
what  they  tramped  upon.  They  took  no 
by-paths.  They  were  very  neat  and  well 
cared  for  in  other  respects,  but  one  could  see  by 
their  feet  that  they  were  poor  wilderness-folk. 

The  goosey-gander  only  had  time  to  whisper 
to  the  boy:  "Speak  up  quickly  for  yourself, 
but  don't  tell  them  who  you  are!" — before 
the  geese  were  upon  them. 

When  the  wild  geese  had  stopped  in  front 
of  them,  they  curtsied  with  their  necks 
many  times,  and  the  goosey-gander  did  like- 
wise many  more  times.  As  soon  as  the 
ceremonies  were  over,  the  leader-goose  said: 
"  Now  I  presimie  we  shall  hear  what  kind  of 
creatures  you  are." 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  49 

"There  isn't  much  to  tell  about  me,"  said 
the  goosey-gander.  "I  was  bom  in  Skanor 
last  spring.  In  the  fall  I  was  sold  to  Holger 
Nilsson  of  West  Vemminghog,  and  there  I 
have  lived  ever  since."  "You  don't  seem  to 
have  any  pedigree  to  boast  of,"  said  the  leader- 
goose.  "What  is  it,  then,  that  makes  you 
so  high-minded  that  you  wish  to  associate  with 
wild  geese?"  "It  may  be  because  I  want  to 
show  you  wild  geese  that  we  tame  ones  may 
also  be  good  for  something,"  said  the  goosey- 
gander.  "Yes,  it  would  be  well  if  you  could 
show  us  that,"  said  the  leader-goose,  "We 
have  already  observed  how  much  you  know 
about  flying;  but  you  are  more  skilled,  per- 
haps, in  other  sports.  Possibly  you  are 
strong  in  a  swimming  match? "  "  No,  I  can't 
boast  that  I  am,"  said  the  goosey-gander. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  the  leader-goose  had 
already  made  up  her  mind  to  send  him  home, 
so  he  didn't  much  care  how  he  answered. 
"  I  never  swam  any  farther  than  across  a 
marl-ditch,"  he  continued.  "Then  I  presume 
you're  a  crack  sprinter,"  said  the  goose.  "I 
have  never  seen  a  tame  goose  run,  nor  have 


50  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

I  ever  done  it  myself,"  said  the  goosey- 
gander;  and  he  made  things  appear  much 
worse  than  they  really  were. 

The  big  white  one  was  sure  now  that  the 
leader-goose  would  say  that  under  no  cir- 
cumstances could  they  take  him  along.  He 
was  very  much  astonished  when  she  said: 
"You  answer  questions  courageousl}^ ;  and 
he  who  has  courage  can  become  a  good  travel- 
ling companion,  even  if  he  is  ignorant  in  the 
beginning.  What  do  you  say  to  stopping 
with  us  for  a  couple  of  days,  until  we  can 
see  what  you  are  good  for?"  "That  suits 
me!"  said  the  goosey-gander — and  he  was 
thoroughly  happy. 

Thereupon  the  leader-goose  pointed  with 
her  bill  and  said:  "But  who  is  that  you 
have  with  you?  I've  never  seen  anything 
like  him  before."  "That's  my  comrade," 
said  the  goosey-gander.  "  He's  been  a  goose- 
tender  all  his  life.  He'll  be  useful  all  right  to 
take  with  us  on  the  trip."  "Yes,  he  may  be 
all  right  for  a  tame  goose,"  answered  the  wild 
one.  "What  do  you  call  him?"  "He  has 
several    names,"    said    the    goosey-gander — 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  51 

hesitatingly,  not  knowing  what  he  should 
hit  upon  in  a  hurry,  for  he  didn't  want  to 
reveal  the  fact  that  the  boy  had  a  human 
name.  "Oh!  his  name  is  Thumbietot,"  he 
said  at  last.  "Does  he  belong  to  the  elf 
family?"  asked  the  leader-goose.  "At  what 
time  do  you  wild  geese  usually  retire?"  said 
the  goosey-gander  quickly — trying  to  evade 
that  last  question.  "My  eyes  close  of  their 
own  accord  about  this  time." 

One  could  easily  see  that  the  goose  who 
talked  with  the  gander  was  very  old.  Her 
entire  feather  outfit  was  ice-gray,  without  any 
dark  streaks.  The  head  was  larger,  the  legs 
coarser,  and  the  feet  were  more  worn  than 
any  of  the  others.  The  feathers  were  stiff; 
the  shoulders  knotty;  the  neck  thin.  All 
this  was  due  to  age.  It  was  only  upon  the 
eyes  that  time  had  had  no  effect.  They 
shone  brighter — as  if  they  were  younger — 
than  any  of  the  others! 

She  turned,  very  haughtily,  toward  the 
goosey-gander.  "Understand,  Mr.  Tame-goose 
that  I  am  Akka  from  Kebnekaise!  And 
that  the  goose  who  flies  nearest  me — ^to  the 


5a  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

right — is  Iksi  from  Vassijaure,  and  the  one 
to  the  left,  is  Kaksi  from  Nuolja!  Under- 
stand, also,  that  the  second  right-hand  goose 
is  Kolmi  from  Sarjektjakko,  and  the  second, 
left,  is  Nelja  from  Svappavaara;  and  behind 
them  fly  Viisi  from  Oviksfjallen  and  Kuusi 
from  Sjangeli!  And  know  that  these,  as 
well  as  the  six  goslings  who  fly  last — three  to 
the  right,  and  three  to  the  left — are  all  high 
mountain  geese  of  the  finest  breed!  You 
must  not  take  us  for  land-lubbers  who  strike 
up  a  chance  acquaintance  with  any  and  every- 
one! And  you  must  not  think  that  we  per- 
mit anyone  to  share  our  quarters,  that  will 
not  tell  us  who  his  ancestors  were." 

When  Akka,  the  leader-goose,  talked  in 
this  way,  the  boy  stepped  briskly  forward. 
It  had  distressed  him  that  the  goosey-gander, 
who  had  spoken  up  so  glibly  for  himself, 
should  give  such  evasive  answers  when  it 
concerned  him.  "I  don't  care  to  make  a 
secret  of  who  I  am,"  said  he.  "  My  name  is 
Nils  Holgersson.  I'm  a  farmer's  son,  and, 
until  to-day,  I  have  been  a  human  being; 
but  this  morning — "     He  got  no  further. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  53 

As  soon  as  he  had  said  that  he  was  human 
the  leader-goose  staggered  three  steps  back- 
ward, and  the  rest  of  them  even  farther  back. 
They  all  extended  their  necks  and  hissed 
angrily  at  him. 

"I  have  suspected  this  ever  since  I  first 
saw  you  here  on  these  shores,"  said  Akka; 
**  and  now  you  can  clear  out  of  here  at  once. 
We  tolerate  no  human  beings  among  us." 

"It  isn't  possible,"  said  the  goosey-gander, 
meditatively,  "that  you  wild  geese  can  be 
afraid  of  anyone  who  is  so  tiny!  By 
to-morrow,  of  course,  he'll  turn  back  home. 
You  can  surely  let  him  stay  with  us  over- 
night. None  of  us  can  afford  to  let  such  a 
poor  little  creature  wander  off  by  himself  in 
the  night — among  weasels  and  foxes!" 

The  wild  goose  came  nearer.  But  it  was 
evident  that  it  was  hard  for  her  to  master 
her  fear.  "  I  have  been  taught  to  fear  every- 
thing in  human  shape — be  it  big  or  little, " 
said  she.  "But  if  you  will  answer  for  this 
one,  and  swear  that  he  will  not  harm  us,  he 
can  stay  with  us  to-night.  But  I  don't 
believe    our     night     quarters    are     suitable 


54  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

either  for  him  or  you,  for  we  intend  to  roost 
on  the  broken  ice  out  here." 

She  thought,  of  course,  that  the  goosey- 
gander  would  be  doubtful  when  he  heard 
this,  but  he  never  let  on.  "She  is  pretty 
wise  who  knows  how  to  choose  such  a  safe 
bed,"  said  he. 

"  You  will  be  answerable  for  his  return  to 
his  own  to-morrow." 

"Then  I,  too,  will  have  to  leave  you,"  said 
the  goosey-gander.  "  I  have  sworn  that  I 
would  not  forsake  him." 

"You  are  free  to  fly  whither  you  will," 
said  the  leader-goose. 

With  this,  she  raised  her  wings  and  flew 
out  over  the  ice  and  one  after  another  the 
wild  geese  followed  her. 

The  boy  was  very  sad  to  think  that  his  trip 
to  Lappland  would  not  come  off,  and,  in  the 
bargain,  he  was  afraid  of  the  chilly  night 
quarters.  "It  will  be  worse  and  worse,"  said 
he.  "In  the  first  place,  we'll  freeze  to  death 
on  the  ice." 

But  the  ganaer  was  in  a  good  humour. 
"There's  no  danger,"  said  he.     "Only  make 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  55 

haste,  I  beg  of  you,  and  gather  together  as 
much  grass  and  htter  as  you  can  well  carry." 

When  the  boy  had  his  arms  full  of  dried 
grass,  the  goosey-gander  grabbed  him  by  the 
shirt-band,  lifted  him,  and  flew  out  on  the 
ice,  where  the  wild  geese  were  already  fast 
asleep,  with  their  bills  tucked  under  their  wings. 

"Now  spread  out  the  grass  on  the  ice,  so 
there'll  be  something  to  stand  on,  to  keep 
me  from  freezing  fast.  You  help  me  and 
I'll  help   you,"   said  the  goosey-gander. 

This  the  boy  did.  And  when  he  had 
finished,  the  goosey-gander  picked  him  up, 
once  again,  by  the  shirt-band,  and  tucked 
him  under  his  wing.  "  I  think  you'll  lie  snug 
and  warm  there,"  said  the  goosey-gander  as 
he  covered  him  with  his  wing. 

The  boy  was  so  imbedded  in  down  that  he 
couldn't  answer;  and  he  was  nice  and 
comfy.  Oh,  but  he  was  tired! — And  in 
less  than  two  winks  he  was  fast  asleep. 

NIGHT 

It  IS  a  fact  that  ice  is  always  treacherous 
and  not  to  be  trusted.  In  the  middle  of  the 
night  the  loosened  ice-cake  on  Vomb  Lake 


56  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

moved  about,  until  one  comer  of  it  touched 

the  shore.  Now  it  happened  that  Mr.  Smirre 
Fox,  who  lived  at  this  time  in  Ovid  Cloister 
Park — on  the  east  side  of  the  lake — caught 
a  glimpse  of  that  one  comer,  while  he  was  out 
on  his  night  chase.  Smirre  had  seen  the  wild 
geese  early  in  the  evening,  and  hadn't  dared 
to  hope  that  he  might  get  at  one  of  them, 
but  now  he  walked  right  out  on  the  ice. 

When  Smirre  was  very  near  to  the  geese, 
his  claws  scraped  the  ice,  and  the  geese  awoke, 
flapped  their  wings,  and  prepared  for  flight. 
But  Smirre  was  too  quick  for  them.  He 
darted  forward  as  though  he'd  been  shot; 
grabbed  a  goose  by  the  wing,  and  ran  toward 
land  again. 

But  this  night  the  wild  geese  were  not  alone 
on  the  ice,  for  they  had  a  human  being  among 
them — ^little  as  he  was.  The  boy  had  awa- 
kened when  the  goosey-gander  spread  his  wings. 
He  had  tumbled  down  on  the  ice  and  was 
sitting  there,  dazed.  He  hadn't  grasped  the 
whys  and  wherefores  of  all  this  confusion,  until 
he  caught  sight  of  a  little  long-legged  dog 
"who  ran  over  the  ice  with  a  goose  in  his  mouth. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


S7 


In  a  minute  the  boy  was  after  that  dog,  to 
try  and  take  the  goose  away  from  him.  He 
must  have  heard  the  goosey-gander  call  to 
him:  "Have  a  care,  Thumb ietot!  Have  a 
care!"  But  the  boy  thought  that  such  a 
little  runt  of  a  dog  was  nothing  to  be  afraid 
of  and  he  rushed  ahead. 

The  wild  goose  that  Smirre  Fox  tugged 
after  him,  heard  the  clatter  as  the  boy's 
wooden  shoes  beat  against  the  ice,  and  she 
could  hardly  believe  her  ears.  "Does  that 
infant  think  he  can  take  me  away  from  the 
fox?"  she  wondered.  And  in  spite  of  her 
misery,  she  began  to  cackle  right  merrily,  deep 
down  in  her  windpipe.  It  was  almost  as  if 
she  had  laughed. 

"  The  first  thing  he  knows,  he'll  fall  through 
a  crack  in  the  ice,"  thought  she. 

But  dark  as  the  night  was,  the  boy  saw  dis- 
tinctly all  the  cracks  and  holes  there  were, 
and  took  daring  leaps  over  them.  This  was 
because  he  had  the  elf's  good  eyesight  now, 
and  could  see  in  the  dark.  He  saw  both  lake 
and  shore  just  as  clearly  as  if  it  had  been 
daylight. 


S8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Smirre  Fox  left  the  ice  where  it  touched  the 
shore.  And  just  as  he  was  working  his  way 
up  to  the  land-edge,  the  boy  shouted  to  him: 
"Drop  that  goose,  you  sneak!"  Smirre  didn't 
know  who  was  calling  to  him,  and  wasted  no 
time  in  looking  around,  but  increased  his 
pace. 

The  fox  made  straight  for  the  forest  and  the 
boy  followed  him,  with  never  a  thought  of  the 
danger  he  was  running.  On  the  contrary,  he 
thought  all  the  while  about  the  contemptuous 
way  in  which  he  had  been  received  by  the 
wild  geese  that  evening;  and  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  let  them  see  that  a  human  being  was 
something  higher  than  all  else  created. 

He  shouted,  again  and  again,  to  that  dog, 
to  make  him  drop  his  game.  "  What  kind  of 
a  dog  are  you,  who  can  steal  a  whole  goose  and 
not  feel  ashamed  of  yourself?  Drop  her  at 
once!  or  you'll  see  what  a  beating  you'll  get. 
Drop  her,  I  say,  or  I'll  tell  your  master  how 
you  behave! " 

When  Smirre  Fox  saw  that  he  had  been  mis- 
taken for  a  scary  dog,  he  was  so  amused  that 
he  came  near  dropping  the  goose.     Smirre 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


59 


was  a  great  plunderer  who  wasn't  satisfied 
with  only  hunting  rats  and  pigeons  in  the 
fields,  but  he  also  ventured  into  the  farm- 
yards to  steal  chickens  and  geese.  He  knew 
that  he  was  feared  throughout  the  district; 
and  anything  as  idiotic  as  this  he  had  not 
heard  since  he  was  a  baby. 

The  boy  ran  so  fast  that  the  thick  beech- 
trees  appeared  to  be  running  past  him — ^back- 
ward, but  he  caught  up  with  Smirre.  Finally, 
he  was  so  close  to  him  that  he  got  a  hold  on 
bis  tail.  "  Now  I'll  take  the  goose  from  you 
anyway,"  cried  he,  and  held  on  as  hard  as 
ever  he  could,  but  he  hadn't  strength  enough 
to  stop  Smirre.  The  fox  dragged  him  along 
until  the  dry  foliage  whirled  around  him. 

But  now  it  began  to  dawn  on  Smirre  how 
harmless  the  thing  was  that  pursued  him. 
He  stopped  short,  put  the  goose  on  the  ground, 
and  stood  on  her  with  his  forepaws,  so  she 
couldn't  fly  away.  He  was  just  about  to  bite 
off  her  neck — ^but  then  he  couldn't  resist  the 
desire  to  tease  the  boy  a  little.  "  Htirry  off 
and  complain  to  the  master,  for  now  I'm 
going  to  bite  the  goose  to  death!  "  said  he. 


6o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Certainly  the  one  who  was  surprised  when 
he  saw  w^hat  a  pointed  nose,  and  heard  what 
a  hoarse  and  angry  voice  that  dog  which  he 
was  pursuing  had, — ^was  the  boy!  But  now 
he  was  so  enraged  because  the  fox  had  made 
fun  of  him,  that  he  never  thought  of  being 
frightened.  He  took  a  firmer  hold  on  the 
tail,  braced  himself  against  a  beech  trunk; 
and  just  as  the  fox  opened  his  jaws  over  the 
goose's  throat,  he  pulled  as  hard  as  he  could. 
Smirre  was  so  astonished  that  he  let  himself 
be  pulled  backward  a  couple  of  steps — and 
the  wild  goose  got  away.  She  fluttered 
upward  feebly  and  heavily.  One  wing  was 
so  badly  wounded  that  she  could  barely  use 
it.  In  addition  to  this,  she  could  not  see  in 
the  night  darkness  of  the  forest  but  was  as 
helpless  as  the  blind.  Therefore  she  could 
in  no  way  help  the  boy ;  so  she  groped  her  way 
through  the  branches  and  flew  down  to  the 
lake  again. 

Then  Smirre  made  a  dash  for  the  boy.  "  If 
I  don't  get  the  one,  I  shall  certainly  have  the 
other,"  said  he;  and  you  could  tell  by  his 
voice   how  mad   he  was.     "Oh,  don't   you 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


6i 


believe  it! "  said  the  boy,  who  was  in  the  best 
of  spirits  because  he  had  saved  the  goose.  He 
held  himself  fast  by  the  fox-tail,  and  swung 
with  it — to  one  side — when  the  fox  tried  to 
catch  him. 

There  was  such  a  dance  in  that  forest  that 
the  dry  beech-leaves  fairly  flew!  Smirre  swung 
round  and  round,  but  the  tail  swung  too; 
while  the  boy  kept  a  tight  grip  on  it,  so  the 
fox    couldn't    grab    him. 

The  boy  was  so  gay  after  his  success  that, 
in  the  beginning,  he  only  laughed  and  made 
fun  of  the  fox.  But  Smirre  was  persevering 
— as  old  hunters  generally  are — and  the  boy 
began  to  fear  that  he  should  be  captured  in  the 
end. 

Then  he  caught  sight  of  a  little,  young 
beech-tree  that  had  shot  up  as  slender  as  a 
rod,  that  it  might  soon  reach  the  free  air 
above  the  canopy  of  branches  which  the  old 
beeches  spread  over  it. 

Quick  as  a  flash,  he  let  go  of  the  fox-tail 
and  climbed  the  beech  tree.  Smirre  Fox  was 
so  excited  that  he  continued  to  dance  around 
after  his  tail  for  a  long  time. 


62  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"  Don't  bother  with  the  dance  any  longer! " 
said  the  boy. 

But  Smirre  couldn't  endure  the  humilia- 
tion of  his  failure  to  get  the  better  of  such  a 
little  tot,  so  he  lay  down  under  the  tree,  that 
he  might  keep  a  close  watch  on  him. 

The  boy  didn't  have  any  too  good  a  time 
of  it  where  he  sat,  astride  a  frail  branch. 
The  young  beech  did  not,  as  yet,  reach  the 
high  branch-canopy,  so  the  boy  couldn't  get 
over  to  another  tree,  and  he  didn't  dare  to 
come  down  again.  He  was  so  cold  and  numb 
that  he  almost  lost  his  hold  around  the 
branch;  and  he  was  dreadfully  sleepy;  but 
he  didn't  dare  fall  asleep  for  fear  of  tumbling 
down. 

My!  but  it  was  dismal  to  sit  in  that  way  the 
whole  night  through,  out  in  the  forest!  He 
never  before  understood  the  real  meaning 
of  "  night."  It  was  just  as  if  the  whole  world 
had  become  petrified,  and  never  could  come 
to  life  again. 

Then  it  commenced  to  dawn.  The  boy 
was  glad  that  everything  began  to  look  like 
itself    once    more;    although    the   chill   was 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  63 

even  sharper  than  it  had  been  during  the 
night. 

Finally,  when  the  sun  got  up,  it  wasn't 
yellow  but  red.  The  boy  thought  it  looked 
as  though  it  were  angry  and  he  wondered 
what  it  was  angry  about.  Perhaps  it  was 
because  the  night  had  made  it  so  cold  and 
gloomy  on  earth,  while  the  sun  was  away. 

The  sunbeams  came  down  in  great  clusters, 
to  see  what  the  night  had  been  up  to.  It 
could  be  seen  how  everything  blushed — as  if 
they  all  had  guilty  consciences.  The  clouds 
in  the  skies;  the  satiny  beech-limbs;  the 
little  intertwined  branches  of  the  forest- 
canopy;  the  hoar-frost  that  covered  the  foli- 
age on  the  ground — everything  grew  flushed 
and  red.  More  and  more  sunbeams  came 
bursting  through  space,  and  soon  the  night's 
terrors  were  driven  away,  and  such  a  mar- 
vellous lot  of  living  things  came  forward. 
The  black  woodpecker,  with  the  red  neck, 
began  to  hammer  with  its  bill  on  the 
branch.  The  squirrel  glided  from  his  nest 
with  a  nut,  and  sat  down  on  a  branch 
and  began   to  shell  it.     The   starling  came 


64 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


flying  with  a  worm,  and  the  bulfinch  sang 
in  the  tree-top. 

Then  the  boy  understood  that  the  sun  had 
said  to  all  these  tiny  creatures:  "Wake  up 
now,  and  come  out  of  your  nests!  I'm  here! 
Now  you  need  be  afraid  of  nothing." 

The  wild-goose  call  was  heard  from  the  lake, 
as  they  were  preparing  for  flight;  and  soon 
all  fourteen  geese  came  flying  through  the 
forest.  The  boy  tried  to  call  to  them,  but 
they  flew  so  high  that  his  voice  couldn't 
reach  them.  They  probably  believed  the 
fox  had  eaten  him  up;  and  they  didn't 
trouble  themselves  to  look  for  him. 

The  boy  came  near  crying  with  regret;  but 
the  sun  stood  up  there — orange-coloured  and 
happy — and  put  courage  into  the  whole 
world.  "  It  isn't  worth  while,  Nils  Holgers- 
son,  for  you  to  be  troubled  about  anything,  as 
long  as  I'm  here,"  said  the  sun. 

GOOSE-PLAY 

Monday,  March  twenty-first. 

Everything  remained  unchanged  in  the 
forest — about  as  long  as  it  takes  a  goose  to 
eat  her  breakfast.     But  just  as  the  morning 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


65 


was  verging  on  forenoon,  a  goose  came  flying, 
all  by  herself,  under  the  thick  tree-canopy. 
She  groped  her  way,  hesitatingly,  between 
the  stems  and  branches,  and  flew  very 
slowly.  As  soon  as  Smirre  Fox  saw  her,  he 
left  his  place  under  the  beech  tree,  and  sneaked 
up  toward  her.  The  wild  goose  didn't  avoid 
the  fox,  but  flewvery  close  to  him.  Smirre  made 
a  high  jump  for  her  but  he  missed  her;  and 
the  goose  went  on  her  way  down  to  the  lake. 

It  was  not  long  before  another  goose  came 
flying.  She  took  the  same  route  as  the  first 
one;  and  flew  still  lower  and  slower.  She, 
too,  flew  close  to  Smirre  Fox,  and  he  made 
such  a  high  spring  for  her,  that  his  ears 
brushed  her  feet.  But  she,  too,  got  away  from 
him  unhurt,  and  went  her  way  toward  the 
lake,  silent  as  a  shadow. 

A  little  while  passed  and  then  there  came 
another  wild  goose.  She  flew  still  slower  and 
lower;  and  it  seemed  even  more  difficult  for 
her  to  find  her  way  between  the  beech- 
branches.  Smirre  made  a  powerful  spring! 
He  was  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  catching  her; 
but  that  goose  also  managed  to  save  herself. 


66  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Just  after  she  had  disappeared,  came  a 
fourth.  She  flew  so  slowly,  and  so  badly, 
that  Smirre  Fox  thought  he  could  catch 
her  without  much  effort,  but  he  was  afraid  of 
failure  now,  and  concluded  to  let  her  fly  past — 
unmolested.  She  took  the  same  direction 
the  others  had  taken;  and  just  as  she  was 
come  right  above  Smirre,  she  sank  down  so 
far  that  he  was  tempted  to  jump  for  her.  He 
jumped  so  high  that  he  touched  her  with  his 
tail.  But  she  flung  herself  quickly  to  one 
side  and  saved  her  life. 

Before  Smirre  got  through  panting,  three 
more  geese  come  flying  in  a  row.  They  flew 
just  like  the  rest,  and  Smirre  made  high 
springs  for  them  all,  but  he  did  not  succeed 
in  catching  any  one  of  them. 

After  that  came  five  geese;  but  these  flew 
better  than  the  others.  And  although  it 
seemed  as  if  they  wanted  to  lure  Smirre  to 
jump,  he  withstood  the  temptation.  After 
quite  a  long  time  came  one  single  goose.  It 
was  the  thirteenth.  This  one  was  so  old  that 
she  was  gray  all  over,  without  a  dark  speck 
anywhere  on  her  body.     She  didn't  appear  to 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  67 

use  one  wing  very  well,  but  flew  so  wretchedly 
and  crookedly,  that  she  almost  touched  the 
ground.  Sniirre  not  only  made  a  high  leap  for 
her,  but  he  pursued  her,  running  and  jumping 
all  the  way  down  to  the  lake.  But  not  even 
this  time  did  he  get  anything  for  his  trouble. 

When  the  fourteenth  goose  came  along, 
it  looked  very  pretty  because  it  was  white. 
And  as  its  great  wings  swayed,  it  glistened 
like  a  light,  in  the  dark  forest.  When 
Smirre  Fox  saw  this  one,  he  mustered  all  his 
resources  and  jumped  half-way  up  to  the  tree- 
canopy.  But  the  white  one  flew  by  unhurt 
like  the  rest. 

Now  it  was  quiet  for  a  moment  under  the 
beeches.  It  looked  as  if  the  whole  wild- 
goose-flock  had  travelled  past. 

Suddenly  Smirre  remembered  his  prisoner 
and  raised  his  eyes  toward  the  young  beech- 
tree.  And  just  as  he  might  have  expected — 
the  boy  had  disappeared. 

But  Smirre  didn't  have  much  time  to  think 
about  him ;  for  now  the  first  goose  came  back 
again  from  the  lake  and  flew  slowly  under  the 
canopy.     In  spite  of  all  his  iU  luck,  Smirre 


68  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

was  glad  that  she  came  back,  and  darted 
after  her  with  a  high  leap.  But  he  had  been 
in  too  much  of  a  hurry,  and  hadn't  taken  the 
time  to  calculate  the  distance,  and  he  landed 
at  one  side  of  the  goose.  Then  there  came 
still  another  goose;  then  a  third;  a  fourth; 
a  fifth;  and  so  on,  until  the  angle  closed  in 
with  the  old  ice-gray  one,  and  the  big  white 
one.  They  all  flew  low  and  slow.  Just  as 
they  swayed  in  the  vicinity  of  Smirre  Fox, 
they  sank  down — kind  of  inviting-like — for 
him  to  take  them.  Smirre  ran  after  them  and 
made  leaps  a  couple  of  fathoms  high — but 
he  couldn't  manage  to  get  hold  of  a  single 
one  of  them. 

It  was  the  most  awful  day  that  Smirre  Fox 
had  ever  experienced.  The  wild  geese  kept 
on  travelling  over  his  head.  They  came 
and  went — came  and  went.  Great  splendid 
geese,  who  had  eaten  themselves  fat  on  the 
German  heaths  and  grain  fields,  swayed  all 
day  through  the  woods,  and  so  close  to  him 
that  he  touched  them  many  times;  yet  he 
was  not  permitted  to  appease  his  hunger  with 
a  single  one  of  them. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


69 


-  The  winter  was  hardly  gone  yet,  and  Smirre 
recalled  nights  and  days  when  he  had  been 
forced  to  tramp  around  in  idleness,  with  not 
so  much  as  a  hare  to  hunt,  when  the  rats 
hid  themselves  under  the  frozen  earth;  and 
when  the  chickens  were  all  shut  up.  But  all 
the  winter's  hunger  had  not  been  as  hard  to 
endure  as  this  day's  miscalculations. 

Smirre  was  no  young  fox.  He  had  had  the 
dogs  after  him  many  a  time,  and  had  heard 
the  bullets  whizz  around  his  ears.  He  had 
lain  in  hiding,  down  in  the  lair,  while  the 
dachshunds  crept  into  the  crevices  and  all 
but  found  him.  But  all  the  anguish  that 
Smirre  Fox  had  been  forced  to  suffer  under  this 
hot  chase,  was  not  to  be  compared  with  what  he 
suffered  every  time  that  he  missed  one  of  the 
wild  geese. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  play  began, 
Smirre  Fox  had  looked  so  stunning  that  the 
geese  were  amazed  when  they  saw  him. 
Smirre  loved  display.  His  coat  was  a  bril- 
liant red;  his  breast  white;  his  nose  black; 
and  his  tail  was  as  bushy  as  a  plume.  But 
when   the   evening   of   this   day   was   come, 


TO  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Smirre's  coat  hung  in  loose  folds.  He  was 
bathed  in  sweat ;  his  eyes  were  without  lustre ; 
his  tongue  hung  far  out  from  his  gaping  jaws; 
and  froth  oozed  from  his  mouth. 

In  the  afternoon  Smirre  was  so  exhausted 
that  he  grew  delirious.  He  saw  nothing 
before  his  eyes  but  flying  geese.  He  made 
leaps  for  sun-spots  which  he  saw  on  the 
ground;  and  for  a  poor  little  butterfly  that 
had  come  out  of  his  chrysalis  too  soon. 

The  wild  geese  flew  and  flew,  unceasingly. 
All  day  long  they  continued  to  torment 
Smirre.  They  were  not  moved  to  pity  because 
Smirre  was  done  up,  fevered,  and  out  of 
his  head.  They  continued  without  a  let-up, 
although  they  understood  that  he  hardly  saw 
them,  and  that  he  jumped  after  their  shadows. 

When  Smirre  Fox  sank  down  on  a  pile  of 
dry  leaves,  weak  and  powerless  and  almost 
ready  to  give  up  the  ghost,  they  stopped 
teasing  him. 

"Now  you  know,  Mr.  Fox,  what  happens 
to  the  one  who  dares  to  come  near  Akka  of 
Kebnekaise!"  they  shouted  in  his  ear;  and 
with  that  they  left  him  in  peace. 


Ill 

THE  WONDERFUL  JOURNEY 
OF  NILS 

ON  THE   FARM 

Thursday,  March  twenty-fourth. 

JUST  at  that  time  ei  thing  happened  in 
Skane  which  created  a  good  deal  of 
discussion  and  even  got  into  the  newspapers 
but  which  many  beheved  to  be  a  fable, 
because  they  had  not  been  able  to  explain  it. 
It  was  about  like  this:  A  lady  squirrel  had 
been  captured  in  the  hazelbrush  that  grew 
on  the  shores  of  Vomb  Lake,  and  was  carried 
to  a  farmhouse  close  by.  All  the  folks  on 
the  farm — both  young  and  old — ^were  de- 
lighted with  the  pretty  creature  with  the 
bushy  tail,  the  wise,  inquisitive  eyes,  and  the 
natty  little  feet.  The}^  intended  to  amuse 
themselves  all  summer  by  watching  its  nimble 
movements;  its    ingenious    way    of    shelling 


72  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

nuts;  and  its  droll  play.  They  immediately 
put  in  order  an  old  squirrel  cage  with  a  little 
green  house  and  a  wire-cylinder  wheel.  The 
little  house,  which  had  both  doors  and  windows, 
the  lady  squirrel  was  to  use  as  a  dining  room 
and  bedroom.  For  this  reason  they  placed 
therein  a  bed  of  leaves,  a  bowl  of  milk  and 
some  nuts.  The  cylinder  wheel,  on  the  other 
hand,  she  was  to  use  as  a  play-house,  where 
she  could  run  and  climb  and  swing  round. 

The  people  believed  that  they  had  arranged 
things  very  comfortably  for  the  lady  squirrel, 
and  they  were  astonished  because  she  didn't 
seem  to  be  contented;  but,  instead,  she  sat 
there,  downcast  and  moody,  in  a  corner  of 
her  room.  Every  now  and  again,  she  would 
let  out  a  shrill,  agonised  cry.  She  did  not 
touch  the  food;  and  not  once  did  she  swing 
round  on  the  wheel.  "It's  probably  because 
she's  frightened,"  said  the  farmer  folk.  "To- 
morrow, when  she  feels  more  at  home,  she 
will  both  eat  and  play." 

Meanwhile,  the  women  folk  on  the  farm 
were  making  preparations  for  a  feast;  and 
just  on  that  day  when  the  lady  squirrel  had 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  73 

been  captured,  they  were  busy  with  an 
elaborate  bake.  They  had  had  bad  luck  with 
something:  either  the  dough  wouldn't  rise, 
or  else  they  had  been  dilatory,  for  they  were 
obliged  to  work  long  after  dark. 

Naturally  there  was  a  great  deal  of  excite- 
ment and  bustle  in  the  kitchen,  and  probably 
no  one  there  took  time  to  think  about  the 
squirrel,  or  to  wonder  how  she  was  getting 
on.  But  there  was  an  old  grandma  in  the 
house  who  was  too  aged  to  take  a  hand  in  the 
baking;  this  she  herself  understood,  but  just 
the  same  she  did  not  relish  the  idea  of  being 
left  out  of  the  game.  She  felt  rather 
downhearted ;  and  for  this  reason  she  did  not 
go  to  bed  but  seated  herself  by  the  sitting- 
room  window  and  looked  out. 

They  had  opened  the  kitchen  door  on 
account  of  the  heat;  and  through  it  a  clear 
ray  of  light  streamed  out  on  the  yard ;  and  it 
became  so  well  lighted  out  there  that  the 
old  woman  could  see  all  the  cracks  and  holes 
in  the  plastering  on  the  wall  opposite.  She 
also  saw  the  squirrel  cage  which  hung  just 
where  the  light  fell  clearest.     And  she  noticed 


14 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


how  the  squirrel  ran  from  her  room  to  the 
wheel,  and  from  the  wheel  to  her  room, 
all  night  long,  without  stopping  an  instant. 
She  thought  it  was  a  strange  sort  of  unrest 
that  had  come  over  the  animal;  but  she 
believed,  of  course,  that  the  strong  light  kept 
her  awake. 

Between  the  cow-house  and  the  stable 
there  was  a  broad,  handsome  carriage-gate; 
this  too  came  within  the  light-radius.  As 
the  night  wore  on,  the  old  grandma  saw  a 
tiny  creature,  no  bigger  than  a  hand's  breadth, 
cautiously  steal  his  way  through  the  gate. 
He  was  dressed  in  leather  breeches  and 
wooden  shoes  like  any  other  working  man. 
The  old  grandma  knew  at  once  that  it  was 
the  elf,  and  she  was  not  the  least  bit 
frightened.  She  had  always  heard  that  the 
elf  kept  himself  somewhere  about  the  place, 
although  she  had  never  seen  him  before; 
and  an  elf,  to  be  sure,  brought  good  luck 
wherever  he  appeared. 

As  soon  as  the  elf  came  into  the  stone- 
paved  yard,  he  ran  right  up  to  the  squirrel- 
cage.     And   since   it   hung  so  high   that   he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  7| 

could  not  reach  it,  he  went  over  to  the  store- 
house after  a  rod ;  placed  it  against  the  cage, 
and  swung  himself  up — in  the  same  way 
that  a  sailor  climbs  a  rope.  When  he  had 
reached  the  cage,  he  shook  the  door  of  the 
little  green  house  as  if  he  wanted  to  open  it; 
but  the  old  grandma  didn't  move;  for  she 
knew  that  the  children  had  put  a  padlock 
on  the  door,  as  they  feared  that  the  boys 
on  the  neighbouring  farms  would  try  to  steal 
the  squirrel.  The  old  woman  saw  that 
when  the  boy  could  not  get  the  door  open, 
the  lady  squirrel  came  out  to  the  wire  wheel. 
There  they  held  a  long  conference  together. 
And  when  the  boy  had  listened  to  all  that  the 
imprisoned  animal  had  to  say  to  him,  he  slid 
down  the  rod  to  the  ground,  and  ran  out 
through  the  carriage-gate. 

The  old  woman  didn't  expect  to  see  any- 
thing more  of  the  elf  that  night,  neverthe- 
less, she  remained  at  the  window.  After  a 
few  moments  had  gone  by,  he  returned.  He 
was  in  such  a  hurry  that  it  seemed  to  her  as 
though  his  feet  hardly  touched  the  ground; 
and  he  rushed  right  up  to  the  squirrel  cage. 


76  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  old  woman,  with  her  far-sighted  eyes, 
saw  him  distinctly;  and  she  also  saw  that  he 
carried  something  in  his  hands;  but  what  it 
was  she  couldn't  imagine.  The  thing  he 
carried  in  his  left  hand  he  laid  down  on  the 
pavement;  but  that  which  he  held  in  his 
right  hand  he  took  with  him  to  the  cage. 
He  kicked  so  hard  with  his  wooden  shoes  on 
the  little  window  that  the  glass  was  broken. 
He  poked  in  the  thing  which  he  held  in  his 
hand  to  the  lady  squirrel.  Then  he  slid 
down  again,  and  took  up  that  which  he  had 
laid  upon  the  ground,  and  climbed  up  to  the 
cage  with  that  also.  The  next  instant  he 
ran  off  again  with  such  haste  that  the  old 
woman  could  hardly  follow  him  with  her  eyes. 
But  now  it  was  the  old  grandma  who  could 
no  longer  sit  still  in  the  cottage;  but  who, 
very  slowly,  w^ent  out  to  the  back  yard  and 
stationed  herself  in  the  shadow  of  the  pump 
to  await  the  elf's  return.  And  there  was 
one  other  who  had  also  seen  him  and  had 
become  curious.  This  was  the  house  cat. 
He  crept  along  slyly  and  stopped  close  to  the 
wall,  just  two  steps  away  from  the  stream  of 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


77 


light.  They  both  stood  and  waited,  long  and 
patiently,  on  that  chilly  March  night,  and 
the  old  woman  was  just  beginning  to  think 
about  going  in  again,  when  she  heard  a  clatter 
on  the  pavement,  and  saw  that  the  little  mite 
of  an  elf  came  trotting  along  once  more, 
carrying  a  burden  in  each  hand,  as  he  had 
done  before.  That  which  he  bore  squealed 
and  squirmed.  And  now  a  light  dawned  on 
the  old  grandma.  She  understood  that  the 
elf  had  hurried  down  to  the  hazel-grove 
and  brought  back  the  lady  squirrel's  babies; 
and  that  he  was  carrying  them  to  her  so  they 
shouldn't  starve  to  death. 

The  old  grandma  stood  very  still,  so  as  not 
to  disturb  them;  and  it  did  not  look  as  if  the 
elf  had  noticed  her.  He  was  just  going  to 
lay  one  of  the  babies  on  the  ground  so  that  he 
could  swing  himself  up  to  the  cage  with  the 
other  one — when  he  saw  the  house  cat's 
green  eyes  glisten  close  beside  him.  He  stood 
there,  bewildered,  with  a  young  one  in  each 
hand. 

He  turned  around  and  looked  in  all  direc- 
tions; then    he    became    aware    of    the    old 


f8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

grandma's  presence.  Then  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate long;  but  walked  forward,  stretched  his 
arms  as  high  as  he  could  reach,  for  her  to  take 
one  of  the  baby  squirrels. 

The  old  grandma  did  not  wish  to  prove 
herself  unworthy  of  the  confidence,  so  she 
bent  down  and  took  the  baby  squirrel,  and 
stood  there  and  held  it  until  the  boy  had 
swung  himself  up  to  the  cage  with  the  other 
one.  Then  he  came  back  for  the  one  he  had 
entrusted  to  her  care. 

The  next  morning,  when  the  farm  folk  had 
gathered  together  for  breakfast,  it  was  im- 
possible for  the  old  woman  to  refrain  from 
telling  them  of  what  she  had  seen  the  night 
before.  They  all  laughed  at  her,  of  course, 
and  said  that  she  had  been  only  dreaming. 
There  were  no  baby  squirrels  this  early  in  the 
year. 

But  she  was  sure  of  her  ground,  and  begged 
them  to  take  a  look  into  the  squirrel  cage 
and  this  they  did.  And  there  lay  on  the  bed 
of  leaves,  four  tiny  half-naked,  half-blind 
baby  squirrels,  who  were  at  least  a  couple  of 
days  old. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  79 

When  the  farmer  himself  saw  the  yoiing 
ones,  he  said:  "  Be  it  as  it  may  with  this;  but 
one  thing  is  certain,  we,  on  this  farm,  have 
behaved  in  such  a  manner  that  we  are  shamed 
before  both  animals  and  human  beings." 
And,  thereupon,  he  took  the  mother  squirrel 
and  all  her  young  ones  from  the  cage,  and 
laid  them  in  the  old  grandma's  lap.  "Go 
thou  out  to  the  hazel-grove  with  them,"  said 
he,  "and  let  them  have  their  freedom  back 
again!" 

It  was  this  event  that  was  so  much  talked 
about,  and  which  even  got  into  the  news- 
papers, but  which  the  majority  would  not 
credit  because  they  were  not  able  to  explain 
how  anything  like  that  could  have  happened. 

VITTSKOVLE 

Saturday,  March  twenty-sixth. 

Two  days  later,  another  strange  thing  hap- 
pened. A  flock  of  wild  geese  came  flying  one 
morning,  and  lit  on  a  meadow  down  in  East- 
em  Skdne  not  very  far  from  Vittskovle 
manor.  In  the  flock  were  thirteen  wild  geese, 
of  the  usual   gray   variety,   and   one   white 


8o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

goosey-gander,  who  carried  on  his  back  a  tiny 
lad  dressed  in  yellow  leather  breeches,  green 
vest,  and  a  white  woollen  toboggan  hood. 

They  were  now  very  near  the  Eastern  sea; 
and  on  the  meadow  where  the  geese  had 
alighted  the  soil  was  sandy,  as  it  usually  is 
on  the  sea-coast.  It  looked  as  if,  formerly, 
there  had  been  flying  -  sand  in  this  vicinity 
which  had  to  be  held  down;  for  in  several 
directions  large,  planted  pine-woods  could 
be  seen. 

When  the  wild  geese  had  been  feeding  a 
while,  several  children  came  along,  and 
walked  on  the  edge  of  the  meadow.  The 
goose  who  was  on  guard  at  once  raised  her- 
self into  the  air  with  noisy  wing-strokes,  so 
the  whole  flock  should  hear  that  there  was 
danger  on  foot.  All  the  wild  geese  flew 
upward;  but  the  white  one  trotted  along  on 
the  ground  unconcerned.  When  he  saw  the 
others  fly  he  raised  his  head  and  called  after 
them:  "You  needn't  fly  away  from  these! 
They  are  only  a  couple  of  children!" 

The  little  creature  who  had  been  riding  on 
his  back,  sat    down   upon    a    knoll    on    the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  8i 

outskirts  of  the  wood  and  picked  a  pine-cone  in 
pieces,  that  he  might  get  at  the  seeds.  The 
children  were  so  close  to  him  that  he  did  not 
dare  to  run  across  the  meadow  to  the  white 
one.  He  concealed  himself  under  a  big,  dry 
thistle-leaf,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  a 
warning-cry.  But  the  white  one  had  evi- 
dently made  up  his  mind  not  to  let  himself 
be  scared.  He  walked  along  on  the  ground 
all  the  while;  and  not  once  did  he  look  to  see 
in  what  direction  they  were  going. 

Meanwhile,  they  turned  from  the  path, 
walked  across  the  field,  getting  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  goosey-gander.  When  he  finally 
did  look  up,  they  were  right  upon  him.  He 
was  so  dumfounded,  and  became  so  confused, 
he  forgot  that  he  could  fly,  and  tried  to  get 
out  of  their  reach  by  running.  But  the 
children  followed,  chasing  him  into  a  ditch, 
and  there  they  caught  him.  The  larger  of  the 
two  stuck  him  under  his  arm  and  carried  him 
off. 

When  the  boy,  who  lay  under  the  thistle- 
leaf  saw  this,  he  sprang  up  as  if  he  wanted  to 
take    the   goosey-gander    away    from    them; 


82  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

then  he  must  have  remembered  how  little 
and  powerless  he  was,  for  he  threw  himself 
on  the  knoll  and  beat  upon  the  ground  with 
his  clenched  fists. 

The  goosey-gander  cried  with  all  his  might 
for  help:  " Thumb ietot,  come  and  help  me! 
Oh,  Thumbietot,  come  and  help  me!"  The 
boy  began  to  laugh  in  the  midst  of  his  dis- 
tress. "Oh,  yes!  I'm  just  the  right  one  to 
help  anybody,  I  am!"  said  he. 

An3rway  he  got  up  and  followed  the  goosey- 
gander.  "I  can't  help  him,"  said  he,  "but 
I  shall  at  least  find  out  where  they  are  taking 
him." 

The  children  had  a  good  start;  but  the  boy 
had  no  difficulty  in  keeping  them  within 
sight  until  they  came  to  a  hollow  where  a 
brook  gushed  forth.  But  here  he  was  obliged 
to  run  alongside  of  it  for  some  little  time, 
before  he  could  find  a  place  narrow  enough 
for  him  to  jump  over. 

When  he  came  up  from  the  hollow  the 
children  had  disappeared.  He  could  see  their 
footprints  on  a  narrow  path  which  led  to  the 
woods,  and  these  he  continued  to  follow. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  83 

Soon  he  came  to  a  cross-road.  Here  the 
children  must  have  separated,  for  there  were 
footprints  in  two  directions.  The  boy  looked 
now  as  if  all  hope  had  fled.  Then  he  saw  a 
little  white  down  on  a  heather-knoll,  and  he 
understood  that  the  goosey-gander  had 
dropped  this  by  the  wayside  to  let  him  know 
in  which  direction  he  had  been  carried;  and 
therefore  he  continued  his  search.  He  fol- 
lowed the  children  through  the  entire  wood. 
The  goosey-gander  he  did  not  see;  but  where- 
ever  he  was  likely  to  miss  his  way,  lay  a  little 
white  down  to  put  him  right. 

The  boy  continued  faithfully  to  follow  the 
bits  of  down.  They  led  him  out  of  the  wood, 
across  a  couple  of  meadows,  up  on  a  road,  and 
finally  through  the  entrance  of  a  broad  alUe. 
At  the  end  of  the  allee  there  were  gables  and 
towers  of  red  tiling,  decorated  with  bright 
borders  and  other  ornamentations  that  glit- 
tered and  shone.  When  the  boy  saw  that 
this  was  some  great  manor,  he  thought  he 
knew  what  had  become  of  the  goosey-gander. 
"No  doubt  the  children  have  carried  the 
goosey-gander  to  the  manor  and  sold  him 


84  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

there.  By  this  time  he's  probably  butch- 
ered," he  said  to  himself.  But  he  did  not 
seem  to  be  satisfied  with  anything  less  than 
proof  positive,  and  with  renewed  courage 
he  ran  forward.  He  met  no  one  in  the  allee — 
and  that  was  well,  for  such  as  he  are  generally 
afraid  of  being  seen  by  human  beings. 

The  mansion  which  he  came  to  was  a 
splendid,  old-time  structure  with  four  great 
wings  which  inclosed  a  courtyard.  On  the 
east  wing,  there  was  a  high  arch  leading  into 
the  courtyard.  This  far  the  boy  ran  without 
hesitation,  but  when  he  got  there  he  stopped. 
He  dared  not  venture  farther,  but  stood  still 
and  pondered  what  he  should  do  now. 

There  he  stood,  with  his  finger  on  his  nose, 
thinking,  when  he  heard  footsteps  behind 
him ;  and  as  he  turned  around  he  saw  a  whole 
company  march  up  the  allee.  In  haste  he 
stole  behind  a  water-barrel  which  stood  near 
the  arch,  and  hid  himself. 

Those  who  came  up  were  some  twenty 
young  men  from  a  folk-high-school,  out  on  a 
pedestrian  tour.  They  were  accompanied 
by  one  of  the  instructors.     When  they  were 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  85 

come  as  far  as  the  arch,  the  teacher  requested 
them  to  wait  there  a  moment,  while  he  went 
in  and  asked  if  they  might  see  the  old  castle 
of  Vittskovle. 

The  newcomers  were  warni  and  tired;  as 
if  they  had  been  on  a  long  tramp.  One  of 
them  was  so  thirsty  that  he  went  over  to  the 
water-barrel  and  stooped  down  to  drink.  He 
had  a  tin  box  such  as  botanists  use  hang- 
ing about  his  neck.  He  evidently  thought 
that  this  was  in  his  way,  for  he  threw  it  down 
on  the  ground.  With  this,  the  lid  flew  open, 
and  one  could  see  that  there  were  a  few  spring 
flowers  in  it. 

The  botanist's  box  dropped  just  in  front  of 
the  boy;  and  he  must  have  thought  that  here 
was  his  opportunity  to  get  into  the  castle  and 
find  out  what  had  become  of  the  goosey- 
gander.  He  smuggled  himself  quickly  into 
the  box  and  concealed  himself  as  well  as  he 
could  under  the  anemones  and  colts-foot. 

He  was  hardly  hidden  before  the  young  man 
picked  the  box  up,  hung  it  around  his  neck, 
and  slammed  down  the  cover. 

Then  the  teacher  came   back,    and   said 


86  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

that  they  had  been  given  permission  to  enter 
the  castle.  At  first  he  conducted  them  no 
farther  than  the  courtyard.  There  he  stopped 
and  began  to  talk  to  them  about  this  ancient 
structure. 

He  called  their  attention  to  the  first  human 
beings  who  had  inhabited  this  country,  and 
who  had  been  obliged  to  live  in  mountain- 
grottoes  and  earth-caves;  in  the  dens  of  wild 
beasts,  and  in  the  brushwood ;  and  that  a  very 
long  period  had  elapsed  before  they  learned 
to  build  themselves  huts  from  the  trunks  of 
trees.  And  afterward  how  long  had  they 
not  been  forced  to  labour  and  struggle,  before 
they  had  advanced  from  the  log  cabin,  with 
its  single  room,  to  the  building  of  a  castle 
with  a  hundred  rooms — ^like  Vittskovle! 

It  was  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  that  the  rich  and  powerful  built  such 
castles  for  themselves,  he  said.  It  was  very 
evident  that  Vittskovle  had  been  erected  at 
a  time  when  wars  and  robbers  made  it  unsafe 
in  Sk^ne.  All  around  the  castle  was  a  deep 
trench  filled  with  water ;  and  across  this  there 
had  been  a  bridge  in  bygone  days  that  could 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  87 

be  noisted  up.  Over  the  gate- arch  there  is, 
even  to  this  day,  a  watch-tower;  and  all 
along  the  sides  of  the  castle  ran  sentry- 
galleries,  and  in  the  corners  stood  towers  with 
walls  a  metre  thick.  Yet  the  castle  had  not 
been  erected  in  the  most  savage  war  times; 
for  Jens  Brahe,  who  built  it,  had  also  studied 
to  make  of  it  a  beautiful  and  decorative 
ornament.  If  they  could  see  the  big,  solid 
stone  structure  at  Glimminge,  which  had  been 
built  only  a  generation  earlier,  they  would 
readily  see  that  Jens  Holgersen  Ulf stand, 
the  builder,  hadn't  figured  upon  anything 
else — only  to  build  big  and  strong  and  secure, 
without  bestowing  a  thought  upon  making 
it  beautiful  and  comfortable.  If  they  visited 
such  castles  as  Marsvinsholm,  Snogeholm  and 
Ovid's  Cloister — which  were  erected  a  hun- 
dred years  or  so  later — they  would  find  that 
the  times  had  become  less  warlike.  The 
gentlemen  who  built  these  places,  had  not 
furnished  them  with  fortifications;  but  had 
only  taken  pains  to  provide  themselves  with 
great,  splendid  dwelling  houses. 

The    teacher    talked    at    length — ^and    in 


88  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

detail;  and  the  boy  who  lay  shut  up  in  the 
box  was  pretty  impatient;  but  he  must  have 
lain  very  still,  for  the  owner  of  the  box 
hadn't  the  least  suspicion  that  he  was  carrying 
him  along. 

Finally  the  company  went  into  the  castle. 
But  if  the  boy  had  hoped  for  chance  to  crawl 
out  of  that  box,  he  was  deceived;  for  the 
student  carried  it  upon  him  all  the  while, 
and  the  boy  was  obliged  to  accompany  him 
through  all  the  rooms.  It  was  a  tedious 
tramp.  The  teacher  stopped  every  other 
minute  to  explain  and  instruct. 

In  one  room  he  found  an  old  fireplace,  and 
before  this  he  stopped  to  talk  about  the 
different  kinds  of  fireplaces  that  had  been 
used  in  the  course  of  time.  The  first  indoors 
fireplace  had  been  a  big,  flat  stone  on  the 
floor  of  the  hut,  with  an  opening  in  the  roof 
which  let  in  both  wind  and  rain.  The  next 
had  been  a  big  stone  hearth  with  no  opening 
in  the  roof.  This  must  have  made  the  hut 
very  warm,  but  it  also  filled  it  with  soot 
and  smoke.  When  Vittskovle  was  built, 
the  people  had  advanced  far  enough  to  open 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  89 

the  fireplace,  which,  at  that  time,  had  a  wide 
chimney  for  the  smoke;  but  it  also  took 
most  of  the  warmth  up  in  the  air  with  it. 

If  that  boy  had  ever  in  his  life  been  cross 
and  impatient,  he  was  given  a  good  lesson 
in  patience  that  day.  It  must  have  been  a 
whole  hour  now  that  he  had  lain  perfectly 
still. 

In  the  next  room  they  came  to,  the  teacher 
stopped  before  an  old-time  bed  with  its  high 
canopy  and  rich  curtains.  Immediately  he 
began  to  talk  about  the  beds  and  bed  places 
of  olden  days. 

The  teacher  didn't  hurry  himself;  but  then 
he  did  not  know,  of  course,  that  a  poor  little 
creature  lay  shut  up  in  a  botanist's  box,  and 
only  waited  for  him  to  get  through.  When 
they  came  to  a  room  with  gilded  leather  hang- 
ings, he  talked  to  them  about  how  the  people 
had  dressed  their  walls  and  ceilings  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  time.  And  when  he 
came  to  an  old  family  portrait,  he  told  them 
all  about  the  different  changes  in  dress.  And 
in  ^  the  banquet  halls  he  described  ancient 
customs  of  celebrating  weddings  and  funerals. 


go  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Thereupon,  the  teacher  talked  a  little 
about  the  excellent  men  and  women  who  had 
lived  in  the  castle;  about  the  old  Brahes, 
and  the  old  Bamekows;  of  Christian  Barne- 
kow,  who  had  given  his  horse  to  the  king  to 
help  him  escape;  of  Margareta  Ascheberg 
who  had  been  married  to  Kjell  Bamekow 
and  who,  when  a  widow,  had  managed  the 
estates  and  the  whole  district  for  fifty-three 
years;  of  banker  Hageman,  a  farmer's  son 
from  Vittskovle,  who  had  grown  so  rich  that 
he  had  bought  the  entire  estate;  about  the 
Stjernsvards,  who  had  given  the  people  of 
Skane  better  ploughs,  which  enabled  them  to 
discard  the  ridiculous  old  wooden  ploughs 
that  three  oxen  were  hardly  able  to  drag. 
During  all  this,  the  boy  lay  still.  If  he  had 
ever  been  mischievous  and  shut  the  cellar 
door  on  his  father  or  mother,  he  understood 
now  how  they  had  felt;  for  it  was  hoiirs  and 
hours  before  that  teacher  got  through. 

At  last  the  teacher  went  out  into  the  court- 
yard again.  And  there  he  discoursed  upon 
the  tireless  labour  of  mankind  to  procure  for 
themselves  tools  and  weapons,  clothes  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  91 

houses  and  ornaments.  He  said  that  such 
an  old  castle  as  Vittskovle  was  a  mile-post  on 
time's  highway.  Here  one  could  see  how  far 
the  people  had  advanced  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago;  and  one  could  judge  for  one- 
self whether  things  had  gone  forward  or  back- 
ward since  their  time. 

But  this  dissertation  the  boy  escaped  hear- 
ing; for  the  student  who  carried  him  was 
thirsty  again,  and  stole  into  the  kitchen  to 
ask  for  a  drink  of  water.  When  the  boy 
was  carried  into  the  kitchen,  he  should  have 
tried  to  look  around  for  the  goosey-gander. 
He  had  begun  to  move;  and  as  he  did  this,  he 
happened  to  press  too  hard  against  the  lid — 
and  it  flew  open.  As  botanists'  box-lids  are 
always  flying  open,  the  student  thought  no 
more  about  the  matter  but  pressed  it  down 
again.  Then  the  cook  asked  him  if  he  had 
a  snake  in  the  box. 

"  No,  I  have  only  a  few  plants,"  the  student 
replied.  "  It  was  certainly  something  that 
moved  there,"  insisted  the  cook.  The  student 
threw  back  the  lid  to  show  her  that  she  was 
mistaken.     "See    for    vourself — if " 


92  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

But  he  got  no  further,  for  now  the  boy 
dared  not  stay  in  the  box  any  longer,  but 
with  one  bound  he  stood  on  the  floor,  and 
out  he  rushed.  The  maids  hardly  had  time 
to  see  what  it  was  that  ran,  but  they  hurried 
after  it,  nevertheless. 

The  teacher  still  stood  and  talked  when  he 
was  interrupted  by  shrill  cries.  "Catch  him, 
catch  him!"  shrieked  those  who  had  come 
from  the  kitchen;  and  all  the  young  men 
raced  after  the  boy,  who  glided  away  faster 
than  a  rat.  They  tried  to  intercept  him  at 
the  gate,  but  it  was  not  so  easy  to  get  a  hold 
on  such  a  little  creature,  so,  luckily,  he  got 
out  in  the  open. 

The  boy  did  not  dare  to  run  down  toward 
the  open  allee,  but  turned  in  another  direction. 
He  rushed  through  the  garden  into  the  back 
yard.  All  the  while  the  people  raced  after 
him,  shrieking  and  laughing.  The  poor  little 
thing  ran  as  hard  as  ever  he  could  to  get  out 
of  their  way ;  but  still  it  looked  as  though  the 
people  would  catch  up  with  him. 

As  he  rushed  past  a  labourer's  cottage,  he 
heard  a  goose  cackle,  and  saw  a  white  down 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


93 


lying  on  the  doorstep.  There,  at  last,  was 
the  goosey-gander!  He  had  been  on  the 
wrong  track  before.  He  thought  no  more  of 
housemaids  and  men,  who  were  hounding 
him,  but  climbed  up  the  steps — and  into  the 
hallway.  Farther  he  couldn't  come,  for  the 
door  was  locked.  He  heard  how  the  goosey- 
gander  cried  and  moaned  inside,  but  he 
couldn't  get  the  door  open.  The  hunters  that 
were  pursuing  him  came  nearer  and  nearer, 
and,  in  the  room,  the  goosey-gander  cried  more 
and  more  pitifully.  In  this  direst  of  needs 
the  boy  finally  plucked  up  courage  and 
pounded  on  the  door  with  all  his  might. 

A  child  opened  it,  and  the  boy  looked  into 
the  room.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  sat  a 
woman  who  held  the  goosey-gander  tight — 
to  clip  his  quill-feathers.  It  was  her  children 
who  had  found  him,  and  she  didn't  want  to 
do  him  any  harm.  It  was  her  intention  to 
let  him  in  among  her  own  geese,  had  she 
only  succeeded  in  clipping  his  wings  so  he 
couldn't  fly  away.  But  a  worse  fate  could 
hardly  have  happened  to  the  goosey-gander, 
and  he  shrieked  and  moaned  with  all  his  might. 


94  ADVENTURES  OF /[NILS 


< 


t  "  •  And  a  lucky  thing  it  was  that  the  woman 

i  .  hadn't    started    the    chpping    sooner.     Now 

•*  '  only  two  quills  had  fallen-sunder  the  shears 

when  the  door  was  opened — and  the  boy 
stood  on  the  door-sill.  But  a  creature  like 
that  the  woman  had  never  seen  before.  She 
couldn't  believe  anything  else  but  that  it 
was  Goa-nisse  himself;  and  in  her  terror  she 
dropped  the  shears,  clasped  her  hands — and 
forgot  to  hold  on  to  the  goosey-gander. 

As  soon  as  he  felt  himself  freed,  he  ran 
toward  the  door.  He  didn't  give  himself  time 
to  stop;  but,  as  he  ran  past  him,  he  grabbed 
the  boy  by  the  neck-band  and  carried  him 
along  with  him.  On  the  stoop  he  spread  his 
wings  and  flew  up  in  the  air ;  at  the  same  time 
he  made  a  graceful  sweep  with  his  neck  and 
seated  the  boy  on  his  smooth,  downy  back. 

And  off  they  flew — while  all  Vittskovle 
stood  and  stared  after  them. 

IN   OVID   CLOISTER    PARK 

All  that  day,  when  the  wild  geese  played 
with  the  fox,  the  boy  lay  and  slept  in  a 
deserted    squirrel    nest.     When    he    awoke, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  95 

along  toward  evening,  he  felt  very  uneasy. 
"Well,  now  I  shall  soon  be  sent  home  again! 
Then  I'll  have  to  exhibit  myself  before  father 
and  mother,"  thought  he.  But  when  he 
looked  up  and  saw  the  wild  geese,  who  lay  and 
bathed  in  Vomb  Lake — not  one  of  them  said 
a  word  about  his  going.  "  They  probably  think 
the  white  one  is  too  tired  to  travel  home  with 
me  to-night,"  thought  the  boy. 

The  next  morning  the  geese  were  awake 
at  daybreak,  long  before  sunrise.  Now  the 
boy  felt  sure  that  he'd  have  to  go  home;  but, 
curiously  enough,  both  he  and  the  white 
goosey-gander  were  permitted  to  follow  the 
wild  ones  on  their  morning  tour.  The  boy 
couldn't  comprehend  the  reason  for  the  delay, 
but  he  figured  it  out  in  this  way,  that  the 
wild  geese  did  not  care  to  send  the  goosey- 
gander  on  such  a  long  journey  until  they  had 
both  eaten  their  fill.  Come  what  might,  he 
was  only  glad  for  every  moment  that  should 
pass  before  he  must  face  his  parents. 

The  wild  geese  travelled  over  Ovid's  Cloister 
estate  which  was  situated  in  a  beautiful 
park    east    of    the    lake,    and    looked    very 


96  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

imposing  with  its  great  castle ;  its  well  planned 
court  surrounded  by  low  walls  and  pavilions; 
its  fine  old-time  garden  with  covered  arbours, 
streams  and  fountains;  its  wonderful  trees, 
trimmed  bushes,  and  its  evenly  mown  lawns 
with  their  beds  of  beautiful  spring  flowers. 

When  the  wild  geese  rode  over  the  estate 
in  the  early  morning  hour  there  was  no  human 
being  about.  When  they  had  carefully 
assured  themselves  of  this,  they  lowered  them- 
selves toward  the  dog  kennel,  and  shouted: 
"  What  kind  of  a  little  hut  is  this?  What  kind 
of  a  little  hut  is  this?" 

Instantly  the  dog  came  out  of  his  kennel — 
furiously  angry — and  barked  at  the  air. 

"Do  you  call  this  a  hut,  you  tramps!  Can't 
you  see  that  this  is  a  great  stone  castle?  Can't 
you  see  what  fine  terraces,  and  what  a  lot  of 
pretty  walls  and  windows  and  great  doors  it 
has,  bow,  wow,  wow,  wow?  Don't  you  see 
the  grounds,  can't  you  see  the  garden,  can't 
you  see  the  conservatories,  can't  you  see  the 
marble  statues?  You  call  this  a  hut,  do  you? 
Do  huts  have  parks  with  beech-groves  and 
hazel-bushes  and  trailing  vines  and  oak  trees 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  97 

and  firs  and  hunting-grounds  filled  with  game, 
wow,  wow,  wow?  Do  you  call  this  a  hut? 
Have  you  seen  huts  with  so  many  outhouses 
around  them  that  they  look  like  a  whole 
village?  You  must  know  of  a  lot  of  huts  that 
have  their  own  church  and  their  own  par- 
sonage ;  and  that  rule  over  the  district  and  the 
peasant  homes  and  the  neighbouring  farms  and 
barracks,  wow,  wow,  wow?  Do  you  call  this 
a  hut?  To  this  hut  belong  the  richest  posses- 
sions in  Skane,  you  beggars!  You  can't  see 
a  bit  of  land,  from  where  you  hang  in  the 
clouds,  that  does  not  obey  commands  from 
this  hut,  wow,  wow,  wow!" 

All  this  the  dog  managed  to  cry  out  in  one 
breath;  and  the  wild  geese  flew  back  and 
forth  over  the  estate,  and  listened  to  him 
until  he  was  winded.  But  then  they  cried: 
"What  are  you  so  mad  about?  We  didn't 
ask  about  the  castle;  we  only  wanted  to 
know  about  your  kennel,  stupid!" 

When  the  boy  heard  this  joke,  he  laughed; 
then  a  thought  stole  in  on  him  which  at  once 
made  him  serious.  "Think  how  many  of 
these  amusing  things  you  would  hear,  if  you 


98  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

could  go  with  the  wild  geese  through  the 
whole  country,  all  the  way  up  to  Lappland!" 
said  he  to  himself.  "  And  just  now,  when  you 
are  in  such  a  bad  fix,  a  trip  like  that  would  be 
the  best  thing  you  could  hit  upon." 

The  wild  geese  travelled  to  one  of  the  wide 
fields,  east  of  the  estate,  to  eat  grass-roots, 
and  they  kept  this  up  for  hours.  In  the 
meantime,  the  boy  wandered  in  the  great 
park  which  bordered  the  field.  He  hunted  up 
a  beech-nut  grove  and  began  to  look  up  at  the 
bushes,  to  see  if  a  nut  from  last  fall  still  hung 
there.  But  again  and  again  the  thought  of 
the  trip  came  over  him,  as  he  walked  in  the 
park.  He  pictured  to  himself  what  a  fine 
time  he  would  have  if  he  went  with  the  wild 
geese.  To  freeze  and  starve:  that  he  believed 
he  should  have  to  do  often  enough;  but  as  a 
recompense,  he  would  escape  both  work  and 
study. 

As  he  walked  there,  the  old  gray  leader- 
goose  came  up  to  him,  and  asked  if  he  had 
found  anything  eatable.  No,  that  he  hadn't, 
he  replied,  and  then  she  tried  to  help  him. 
She  couldn't  find  any  nuts  either,  but   she 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  99 

discovered  a  couple  of  dried  blossoms  that 
hung  on  a  brier-bush.  These  the  boy  ate  with 
a  good  relish.  But  he  wondered  what  mother 
would  say,  if  she  knew  that  he  had  lived  on 
raw  fish  and  old  winter-dried  blossoms. 

When  the  wild  geese  had  finally  eaten  them- 
selves full,  they  bore  off  toward  the  lake 
again,  where  they  amused  themselves  with 
games  until  almost  dinner  time. 

The  wild  geese  challenged  the  white  goosey- 
gander  to  take  part  in  all  kinds  of  sports. 
They  had  swimming  races,  running  races,  and 
flying  races  with  him.  The  big  tame  one  did 
his  level  best  to  hold  his  own,  but  the  clever 
wild  geese  beat  him  every  time.  All  the  while, 
the  boy  sat  on  the  goosey-gander's  back  and 
encouraged  him,  and  had  as  much  fun  as  the 
rest.  They  laughed  and  screamed  and 
cackled,  and  it  was  remarkable  that  the 
people  on  the  estate  didn't  hear  them. 

When  the  wild  geese  were  tired  of  play,  they 
flew  out  on  the  ice  and  rested  for  a  couple  of 
hours.  The  afternoon  they  spent  in  pretty 
much  the  same  way  as  the  forenoon.  First, 
a  couple  of  hours  feeding,  then  bathing  and 


loo  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

play  in  the  water  near  the  ice-edge  until  sun- 
set, when  they  immediately  arranged  them- 
selves for  sleep. 

"This  is  just  the  life  that  suits  me,"  thought 
the  boy  when  he  crept  in  under  the  gander's 
wing.  "But  to-morrow,  I  suppose  I'll  be 
sent  home." 

Before  he  fell  asleep,  he  lay  and  thotrght 
that  if  he  might  go  along  with  the  wild  geese, 
he  would  escape  all  scoldings  because  he  was 
lazy.  Then  he  could  cut  loose  every  day,  and 
his  only  worry  would  be  to  get  something  to 
eat.  But  he  needed  so  little  nowadays;  and 
there  would  always  be  a  way  to  get  that. 

So  he  pictured  the  whole  scene  to  himself; 
what  he  should  see,  and  all  the  adventures 
that  he  would  be  in  on.  Yes,  it  would  be 
something  different  from  the  wear  and  tear  at 
home.  "If  I  could  only  go  with  the  wild 
geese  on  their  travels,  I  shouldn't  grieve  be- 
cause I'd  been  transformed,"  thought  the  boy. 

He  wasn't  afraid  of  anything — except  being 
(^ent  home;  but  not  even  on  Wednesday  did 
the  geese  say  anything  to  him  about  going. 
That  day  passed  in  the  same  way  as  Tuesday ; 


ADVENTURES  OF  NIL8'         ibi 

and  the  boy  grew  more  and  more  contented 
with  the  outdoor  Hfe.  He  thought  that  he 
had  the  lovely  Ovid  Cloister  park — ^which  was 
as  large  as  a  forest — all  to  himself;  and  he 
wasn't  anxious  to  go  back  to  the  stuffy  cabin 
and  the  little  patch  of  ground  there  at  home. 

On  Wednesday  he  believed  that  the  wild 
geese  thought  of  keeping  him  with  them;  but 
on  Thursday  he  lost  hope  again, 

Thursday  began  just  like  the  other  days; 
the  geese  fed  on  the  broad  meadows,  and  the 
boy  hunted  for  food  in  the  park.  After  a 
while  Akka  came  to  him,  and  asked  if  he  had 
found  anything  to  eat.  No,  he  had  not;  and 
then  she  looked  up  a  dry  caraway  herb,  that 
had  kept  all  its  tiny  seeds  intact. 

When  the  boy  had  eaten,  Akka  said  that 
she  thought  he  ran  around  in  the  park  alto-  / 
gether  too  recklessly.  She  wondered  if  he 
knew  how  many  enemies  he  had  to  guard 
against — he,  who  was  so  little.  No,  he  didn't  \ 
know  anything  at  all  about  that.  Then  Akka 
began  to  enumerate  them  for  him. 

Whenever  he  walked  in  the  park,  she  said, 
that  he  must  look  out  for  the  fox  and  the 


I02  -        ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

marten;  when  he  came  to  the  shores  of  the 
lake,  he  must  think  of  the  otters ;  as  he  sat  on 
the  stone  wall,  he  must  not  forget  the 
weasels,  who  could  creep  through  the  small- 
est holes;  and  if  he  wished  to  lie  down  and 
sleep  on  a  pile  of  leaves,  he  must  first  find 
out  if  the  adders  were  not  sleeping  their 
winter  sleep  in  the  same  pile.  As  soon  as  he 
came  out  in  the  open  fields,  he  should  keep  an 
eye  out  for  hawks  and  buzzards;  for  eagles 
and  falcons  that  soared  in  the  air.  In  the 
bramble-bush  he  could  be  captured  by  the 
sparrow-hawk ;  magpies  and  crows  were  found 
everywhere  and  in  these  he  mustn't  place 
any  too  much  confidence.  As  soon  as  it  was 
dusk,  he  must  keep  his  ears  open  and  listen 
for  the  big  owls,  who  flew  along  with  such 
soundless  wing-strokes  that  they  could  come 
right  up  to  him  before  he  was  aware  of  their 
presence. 

When  the  boy  heard  that  there  were  so 
many  who  were  after  his  life,  he  thought  that 
it  would  be  simply  impossible  for  him  to  escape. 
He  was  not  particularly  afraid  to  die,  but  he 
didn't  like  the  idea  of  being  eaten  up,  so  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


103 


asked  Akka  what  he  should  do  to  protect 
himself  from  the  carnivorous  animals. 

Akka  answered  at  once  that  the  boy  should 
try  to  get  on  good  terms  with  all  the  small 
animals  in  the  woods  and  fields:  with  the 
squirrel-folk,  and  the  hare-family;  with  bul- 
finches  and  titmice  and  woodpeckers  and 
larks.  If  he  made  friends  with  them,  they 
could  warn  him  against  dangers,  find  hiding 
places  for  him,  and  protect  him. 

But,  later  in  the  day,  when  the  boy  tried 
to  profit  by  this  counsel,  and  turned  to  Sirle 
Squirrel  to  ask  for  his  protection,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  he  did  not  care  to  help  him.  "You 
surely  can't  expect  an3rthing  from  me,  or  the 
rest  of  the  small  animals ! ' '  said  Sirle.  **  Don't 
you  think  we  know  that  you  are  Nils  the  goose 
boy,  who  tore  down  the  swallow's  nest  last 
year,  crushed  the  starling's  eggs,  threw  baby 
crows  in  the  marl-ditch,  caught  thrushes  in 
snares,  and  put  squirrels  in  cages?  You  just 
help  yourself  as  well  as  you  can ;  and  you  may 
be  thankful  that  we  do  not  form  a  league 
against  you,  and  drive  you  back  to  vour  own 
kind!" 


I04  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

This  was  just  the  sort  of  answer  the  boy 
would  not  have  let  go  unpunished,  in  the  days 
when  he  was  Nils  the  goose  boy.  But  now  he 
was  only  fearful  lest  the  wild  geese,  too,  had 
found  out  how  wicked  he  could  be.  He  had 
been  so  anxious  for  fear  he  wouldn't  be  permit- 
ted to  stay  with  the  wild  geese,  that  he  hadn't 
dared  to  get  into  the  least  little  mischief  since 
he  joined  their  company.  It  was  true  that 
he  didn't  have  the  power  to  do  much  harm 
now,  but,  little  as  he  was,  he  could  have 
destroyed  many  birds'  nests,  and  crushed  many 
eggs,  if  he'd  been  a  mind  to.  Now  he  had 
been  good.  He  hadn't  pulled  a  feather  from 
a  goose- wing,  or  given  anyone  a  rude  answer; 
and  every  morning  when  he  called  upon  Akka 
he  had  always  removed  his  cap  and  bowed. 

All  day  Thursday  he  thought  it  was  surely 
on  account  of  his  wickedness  that  the  wild 
geese  did  not  care  to  take  him  along  up  to 
Lappland.  And  in  the  evening,  when  he 
heard  that  Sirle  Squirrel's  wife  had  been 
stolen,  and  her  children  were  starving  to  death, 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  help  them.  And  we 
have  already  been  told  how  well  he  succeeded. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


loS 


When  the  boy  came  into  the  park  on  1^'riday, 
he  heard  the  bulfinches  sing  in  every  bush, 
of  how  Sirle  Squirrel's  wife  had  been  carried 
away  from  her  children  by  cruel  robbers,  and 
how  Nils,  the  goose  boy,  had  risked  his  life 
among  human  beings,  and  taken  the  little 
squirrel  children   to  her. 

**And  who  is  so  honoured  in  Ovid  Cloister 
park  now,  as  Thumbietot!"  sang  the  bulfinch; 
"he,  whom  all  feared  when  he  was  Nils  the 
goose  boy?  Sirle  Squirrel  will  give  him  nuts; 
the  poor  hares  are  going  to  play  with  him; 
the  small  wild  animals  will  carry  him  on  their 
backs,  and  fly  away  with  him  when  Smirre 
Fox  approaches.  The  titmice  are  going  to 
warn  him  against  the  hawk,  and  the  finches 
and  larks  will  sing  of  his  valour." 

The  boy  was  absolutely  certain  that  both 
Akka  and  the  wild  geese  had  heard  all  this. 
But  still  Friday  passed  and  not  one  word  did 
they  say  about  his  remaining  with  them. 

Until  Saturday  the  wild  geese  fed  in  the  fields 
around  Ovid,  undisturbed  by  Smirre  Fox. 

But  on  Saturday  morning,  when  they  came 
out  in  the  meadows,  he  lay  in  wait  for  them, 


io6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

and  chased  them  from  one  field  to  another, 
and  they  were  not  allowed  to  eat  in  peace. 
When  Akka  understood  that  he  didn't  intend 
to  leave  them  in  peace,  she  came  to  a  decision 
quickly,  raised  herself  into  the  air  and  flew 
with  her  flock  several  miles  away,  over  Pars' 
plains  and  Linderodsosen's  hills.  They  did 
not  stop  before  they  had  arrived  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Vittskovle. 

But  at  Vittskovle  the  goosey-gander  was 
stolen,  and  how  it  happened  has  already 
been  related.  If  the  boy  hadn't  used  all  his 
powers  to  help  him,  he  would  never  again 
have  been  found. 

On  Saturday  evening,  as  the  boy  came 
back  to  Vomb  Lake  with  the  goosey-gander, 
he  thought  that  he  had  done  a  good  day's 
work ;  and  he  speculated  a  good  deal  on  what 
Akka  and  the  wild  geese  would  say  to  him. 
The  wild  geese  were  not  at  all  sparing  in  their 
praises,  but  they  did  not  say  the  word  he  was 
longing  to  hear. 

Then  Sunday  came  again.  A  whole  week 
had  gone  by  since  the  boy  had  been 
bewitched,  and  he  was  still  just  as  little. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  107 

But  he  didn't  appear  to  be  giving  himself 
any  extra  worry  on  account  of  this  thing. 
On  Sunday  afternoon  he  sat  huddled 
together  in  a  big,  fluffy,  osier-bush,  down  by 
the  lake,  and  blew  on  a  reed-pipe.  All 
around  him  there  sat  as  many  finches  and 
bulfinches  and  starlings  as  the  bush  could 
well  hold — ^who  sang  songs  which  he  tried  to 
teach  himself  to  play.  But  the  boy  was  not 
at  home  in  this  art.  He  blew  so  false  that  the 
feathers  raised  themselves  on  the  little  music- 
masters  and  they  shrieked  and  fluttered  in 
their  despair.  The  boy  laughed  so  heartily 
at  their  excitement,  that  he  dropped  his  pipe. 

He  began  once  again,  and  that  went  just 
as  badly.  Then  all  the  little  birds  wailed: 
"To-day  you  play  worse  than  usual,  Thumb- 
ietot  ? "  You  don't  take  one  true  note !  Where 
are  your  thoughts,  Thumbietot?" 

"They  are  elsewhere,"  said  the  boy — and 
this  was  true.  He  sat  there  and  pondered 
how  long  he  would  be  allowed  to  remain  with 
the  wild  geese;  or  if  he  should  be  sent  home 
perhaps  to-day. 

Finally  the  boy  threw  down  his  pipe  and 


ic8         ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

jumped  from  the  bush.  He  had  seen  Akka, 
and  all  the  wild  geese,  coming  toward  him 
in  a  long  row.  They  walked  so  uncommonly 
slow  and  dignified-like,  that  the  boy  imme- 
diately understood  that  now  he  should  learn 
what  they  intended  to  do  with  him. 

When  they  stopped  at  last,  Akka  said: 
**  You  may  well  have  reason  to  wonder  at  me, 
Thumbietot,  who  have  not  said  thanks  to 
you  for  saving  me  from  Smirre  Fox.  But  I 
am  one  of  those  who  would  rather  give  thanks 
by  deeds  than  words.  I  have  sent  word  to 
the  elf  that  bewitched  you.  At  first  he 
didn't  want  to  hear  anything  about  curing 
you;  but  I  have  sent  message  upon  message 
to  him,  and  told  him  how  well  you  have  con- 
ducted yourself  among  us.  He  greets  you, 
and  says,  that  as  soon  as  you  turn  back  home, 
you  shall  be  human  again." 

But  think  of  it !  Just  as  happy  as  the  boy 
had  been  when  the  wild  geese  began  to  speak, 
just  that  miserable  was  he  when  they  had 
finished.  He  didn't  say  a  word,  but  turned 
away  and  wept. 

"  What  in  all  the  world  is  this? "  said  Akka. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  lof 

"It  looks  as  though  you  had  expected  more 
of  me  than  I  have  offered  you." 

But  the  boy  was  thinking  of  the  care-free 
days  and  the  banter;  and  of  adventure  and 
freedom  and  travel,  high  above  the  earth, 
that  he  should  miss,  and  he  actually  bawled 
with  grief.  "I  don't  want  to  be  human," 
said  he.  "I  want  to  go  with  you  to  Lappland. " 
"  I'll  tell  you  something,"  said  Akka.  "That 
elf  is  very  touchy,  and  I'm  afraid  that  if  you 
do  not  accept  his  offer  now,  it  will  be  difficult 
for  you  to  coax  him  another  time." 

It  was  a  strange  thing  about  that  boy — ^as 
long  as  he  had  lived,  he  had  never  cared  for 
anyone.  He  had  not  cared  for  his  father  or 
mother;  not  for  the  school  teacher;  not  for 
his  schoolmates ;  nor  for  the  boys  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. All  that  they  had  wished  to  have 
him  do — ^whether  it  had  been  work  or  play — 
he  had  only  thought  tiresome.  Therefore 
there  was  no  one  whom  he  missed  or  longed  for. 

The  only  ones  that  he  had  come  anywhere 
near  agreeing  with,  were  Osa,  the  goose  girl, 
and  little  Mats — a  couple  of  children  who  had 
tended  geese  in  the  fields,  like  himself.     But 


no 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


he  didn't  care  particularly  for  them  either. 
No,  far  from  it !  "I  don't  want  to  be  human," 
bawled  the  boy.  "I  want  to  go  with  you  to 
Lappland.  That's  why  I've  been  good  for  a 
whole  week!"  "I  don't  want  to  forbid  you 
to  come  along  with  us  as  far  as  you  like," 
said  Akka,  "but  think  first  if  you  wouldn't 
rather  go  home  again.  A  day  may  come 
when  you  will  regret  this." 

"No,"  said  the  boy,  "that's  nothing  to 
regret.  I  have  never  been  as  well  off  as  here 
with   you." 

"Well  then,  let  it  be  as  you  wish,"  said 
Akka. 

"Thanks!"  said  the  boy,  and  he  felt  so 
happy  that  he  had  to  cry  for  very  joy — ^just 
as  he  had  cried  before  from  sorrow. 


IV 

GLIMMINGE  CASTLE 

BLACK  RATS  AND  GRAY  RATS 

IN  SOUTH-EASTERN  SKANE— not  far 
from  the  sea  there  is  an  old  castle  called 
Glimminge.  It  is  a  big  and  substantial  stone 
house;  and  can  be  seen  over  the  plain  for 
miles  around.  It  is  not  more  than  four 
stories  high;  but  it  is  so  ponderous  that  an 
ordinary  farmhouse,  which  stands  on  the 
same  estate,  looks  like  a  little  children's 
playhouse  in  comparison. 

The  big  stone  house  has  such  thick  ceilings 
and  partitions  that  there  is  scarcely  room  in 
its  interior  for  anything  but  the  thick  walls. 
The  stairs  are  narrow,  the  entrances  small; 
and  the  rooms  few.  That  the  walls  might 
retain  their  strength,  there  are  only  the  fewest 
number  of  windows  in  the  upper  stories, 
and  none  at  all  are  found  in  the  lower  ones. 

Ill 


112  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

In  the  old  war  times,  the  people  were  just  as 
glad  that  they  cotild  shut  themselves  up  in  a 
strong  and  massive  house  like  this,  as  one  is 
nowadays  to  be  able  to  creep  into  furs  in  a 
snapping  cold  winter.  But  when  the  time 
of  peace  came,  they  did  not  care  to  live  in  the 
dark  and  cold  stone  halls  of  the  old  castle 
any  longer.  They  have  long  since  deserted 
the  big  Glimminge  castle,  and  moved  into 
dwelling  places  where  the  light  and  air  can 
penetrate. 

At  the  time  when  Nils  Holgersson  wan- 
dered around  with  the  wild  geese,  there  were 
no  human  beings  in  Glimminge  castle;  but 
for  all  that,  it  was  not  without  inhabitants. 
Every  summer  there  lived  a  stork  couple  in 
a  large  nest  on  the  roof.  In  a  nest  in  the 
attic  lived  a  pair  of  gray  owls;  in  the  secret 
passages  hung  bats;  in  the  kitchen  oven 
lived  an  old  cat ;  and  down  in  the  cellar  there 
were  hundreds  of  old  black  rats. 

Rats  are  not  held  in  very  high  esteem  by 
other  animals ;  but  the  black  rats  at  Glimminge 
castle  were  an  exception.  They  were  always 
mentioned   with   respect,    because   they   had 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  ii^ 

shown  great  valour  in  battle  with  their  ene- 
mies; and  much  endurance  under  the  great 
misfortunes  which  had  befallen  their  kind. 
They  nominally  belonged  to  a  rat-folk  who, 
at  one  time,  had  been  very  numerous  and 
powerful,  but  who  were  now  dying  out. 
During  a  long  period  of  time,  the  black  rats 
owned  Skane  and  the  whole  country.  They 
were  found  in  every  cellar;  in  every  attic; 
in  larders  and  cowhouses  and  barns;  in 
breweries  and  flour-mills;  in  churches  and 
castles;  in  every  man-constructed  building. 
But  now  they  were  banished  from  all  this — 
and  were  almost  exterminated.  Only  in  one 
and  another  old  and  secluded  place  could 
one  run  across  a  few  of  them;  and  nowhere 
were  they  to  be  found  in  such  large  numbers 
as  in  Glimminge  castle. 

When  an  animal  folk  die  out,  it  is  generally 
the  human  kind  who  are  the  cause  of  it; 
but  that  was  not  the  case  in  this  instance. 
The  people  had  certainly  struggled  with  the 
black  rats,  but  they  had  not  been  able  to  do 
them  any  harm  worth  mentioning.  Those 
who  had  conquered    them    were  an  animal 


114  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

folk  of  their  o^vn  kind,  who  were  called  gray 
rats. 

These  gray  rats  had  not  lived  in  the  land 
since  time  immemorial,  like  the  black  rats, 
but  descended  from  a  couple  of  poor  im- 
migrants who  landed  in  Malmo  from  a  Libyan 
sloop  about  a  hundred  years  ago.  They 
were  homeless,  starved-out  wretches  who 
stuck  close  to  the  harbour,  swam  among  the 
piles  under  the  bridges,  and  ate  refuse  that 
was  thrown  in  the  water.  They  never  ven- 
tured into  the  city,  which  was  owned  by 
the  black  rats. 

But  gradually,  as  the  gray  rats  increased 
in  number  they  grew  bolder.  At  first  they 
moved  over  to  some  waste  places  and  con- 
demned old  houses  which  the  black  rats  had 
abandoned.  They  hunted  their  food  in  gut- 
ters and  dirt  heaps,  and  made  the  mosi  of  all 
the  rubbish  that  the  black  rats  did  not  deign 
to  take  care  of.  They  were  hardy,  contented 
and  fearless ;  and  within  a  few  years  they  had 
become  so  powerful  that  they  undertook  to 
drive  the  black  rats  out  of  Malmo.  They 
took    from    them    attics,    cellars    and    store- 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  115 

rooms,  starved  them  out  or  bit  them  to  death 
for  they  were  not  at  all  afraid  of  fighting. 

When  Malmo  was  captured,  they  marched 
forward  in  small  and  large  companies 
to  conquer  the  whole  country.  It  is  almost 
impossible  to  comprehend  why  the  black 
rats  did  not  muster  themselves  into  a 
great,  united  war-expedition  to  exterminate 
the  gray  rats,  while  these  were  still  few  in 
numbers.  But  the  black  rats  were  so  cer- 
tain of  their  power  that  they  could  not  believe 
it  possible  for  them  to  lose  it.  They  sat  still 
on  their  estates,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
gray  rats  took  from  them  farm  after  farm, 
city  after  city.  They  were  starved  out, 
forced  out,  rooted  out.  In  Skane  they  had 
not  been  able  to  maintain  themselves  in  a 
single  place  except  Glimminge  castle. 

The  old  castle  had  such  secure  walls  and 
such  few  rat  passages  led  through  these,  that 
the  black  rats  had  managed  to  protect  them- 
selves, and  to  prevent  the  gray  rats  from 
crowding  in.  Night  after  night,  year  after 
year,  the  struggle  had  continued  between  the 
aggressors  and  the  defenders;  but  the  black 


n6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

rats  had  kept  faithful  watch,  and  had  fought 
with  the  utmost  contempt  for  death,  and, 
thanks  to  the  fine  old  house,  they  had  always 
conquered. 

It  will  have  to  be  acknowledged  that  as 
long  as  the  black  rats  were  in  power  they 
were  as  much  shunned  by  all  other  living 
creatures  as  the  gray  rats  are  in  our  day — 
and  for  just  cause;  they  had  thrown  them- 
selves upon  poor,  fettered  prisoners,  and 
tortured  them;  they  had  ravished  the  dead; 
they  had  stolen  the  last  turnip  from  the  cellars 
of  the  poor;  bitten  off  the  feet  of  sleeping 
geese;  robbed  eggs  and  chicks  from  the  hens; 
and  committed  a  thousand  depredations. 
But  since  they  had  come  to  grief,  all  this 
seemed  to  have  been  forgotten;  and  no  one 
could  help  but  marvel  at  the  last  of  a  race  that 
had  held  out  so  long  against  its  enemies. 

The  gray  rats  that  lived  in  the  courtyard  at 
Glimmiinge  and  in  the  vicinity,  kept  up  a 
continuous  warfare  and  tried  to  watch  out 
for  every  possible  chance  to  capture  the  castle. 
One  would  fancy  that  they  should  have 
allowed  the  little  company  of  black  rats  to 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  117 

occupy  Glimminge  castle  in  peace,  since  they 
themselves  had  acquired  all  the  rest  of  the 
country;  but  you  may  be  sure  this  thought 
never  occurred  to  them.  They  were  wont 
to  say  that  it  was  a  point  of  honour  with  them 
to  conquer  the  black  rats  at  some  time  or 
other.  But  those  who  were  acquainted  with 
the  gray  rats  must  have  known  that  it  was 
because  the  human  kind  used  Glimminge 
castle  as  a  grain  storehouse  that  the  gray  ones 
could  not  rest  before  they  had  taken  possession 
of  the  place. 

THE    STORK 

Monday,  March  twenty-eighth. 

Early  one  morning  the  wild  geese  who  stood 
and  slept  on  the  ice  in  Vomb  Lake  were  awa- 
kened by  long  calls  from  the  air.  "Trirop, 
Trirop!"  it  sounded,  "Trianut,  the  crane, 
sends  greetings  to  Akka,  the  wild  goose,  and 
her  flock.  To-morrow  will  be  the  day  of  the 
great  crane  dance  on  Kullaberg." 
.  Akka  raised  her  head  and  answered  at 
once:  "Greetings  and  thanks!  Greetings  and 
thanks!" 


1x8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

With  that,  the  cranes  flew  farther ;  ana  the 
wild  geese  heard  them  for  a  long  while — 
where  they  travelled  and  called  out  over  every 
field,  and  every  wooded  hill:  "Trianut  sends 
greetings.  To-morrow  will  be  the  day  of  the 
great  crane  dance  on  Kullaberg." 

The  wild  geese  were  very  happy  over  this 
invitation.  "You're  in  luck,"  they  said  to 
the  white  goosey-gander,  "to  be  permitted  to 
attend  the  great  crane  dance  on  Kullaberg!" 
"Is  it  then  so  remarkable  to  see  cranes 
dance  i*"  asked  the  goosey-gander.  "  It  is 
something  that  you  have  never  even  dreamed 
about!"  replied  the  wild  geese. 

"  Now  we  must  think  out  what  we  shall  do 
with  Thumb  ietot  to-morrow — ^so  that  no  harm 
can  come  to  him,  while  we  run  over  to  Kulla- 
berg," said  Akka.  "Thumb ietot  shall  not 
be  left  alone!"  said  the  goosey-gander.  "If 
the  cranes  won't  let  him  see  their  dance,  then 
I'll  stay  with  him." 

"  No  human  being  has  ever  been  permitted 
to  attend  the  Animals'  Congress,  at  Kullaberg, " 
said  Akka,  "and  I  shouldn't  dare  to  take 
Thumbietot    along.     But   we'll    discuss    this 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


119 


more  at  length  later  in  the  day.  Now  we 
must  first  and  foremost  think  about  getting 
something  to  eat." 

With  that  Akka  gave  the  signal  to  adjourn. 
On  this  day  she  also  sought  her  feeding-place 
a  good  distance  away,  on  Smirre  Fox's  account, 
and  she  didn't  alight  until  she  came  to  the 
swampy  meadows  a  little  south  of  Glim- 
minge  castle. 

All  that  day  the  boy  sat  on  the  shores  of  a 
little  pond,  and  blew  on  reed-pipes.  He  was 
out  of  sorts  because  he  shouldn't  see  the  crane 
dance,  and  he  just  couldn't  say  a  word,  either 
to  the  goosey-gander,  or  to  any  of  the  others. 

It  was  pretty  hard  that  Akka  should  still 
doubt  him.  When  a  boy  had  given  up  being 
human,  just  to  travel  around  with  a  few  wild 
geese,  they  surely  ought  to  understand  that 
he  had  no  desire  to  betray  them.  Then,  too, 
they  ought  to  understand  that  when  he  had 
renounced  so  much  to  follow  them,  it  was 
their  duty  to  let  him  see  all  the  wonders  they 
could  show  him. 

"I'll  have  to  speak  my  mind  right  out  to 
them,"   thought  he.     But    hour    after    hour 


I20  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

passed,  still  he  hadn't  come  round  to  it.  It 
may  sound  remarkable — but  the  boy  had 
actually  acquired  a  kind  of  respect  for  the 
old  leader-goose.  He  felt  that  it  was  not  easy 
to  pit  his  will  against  hers. 

On  one  side  of  the  swampy  meadow,  where 
the  wild  geese  fed,  there  was  a  broad  stone 
hedge.  Toward  evening  when  the  boy  finally 
raised  his  head,  to  speak  to  Akka,  his  glance 
happened  to  rest  on  this  hedge.  He  uttered  a 
little  cry  of  surprise,  and  all  the  wild  geese 
instantly  looked  up,  and  stared  in  the  same 
direction.  At  first,  both  the  geese  and  the 
boy  thought  that  all  the  round;  gray  stones 
in  the  hedge  had  acquired  legs,  and  were 
starting  on  a  run;  but  soon  they  saw  that  it 
was  a  company  of  rats  who  ran  over  it.  They 
moved  very  rapidly,  and  ran  forward, 
tightly  packed,  line  upon  line,  and  were  so 
numerous  that,  for  some  time,  they  covered 
the  entire  stone  hedge. 

The  boy  had  been  afraid  of  rats,  even  when 
he  was  a  big,  strong  human  being.  Then 
what  must  his  feelings  be  now,  when  he  was 
so    tiny  that   two   or    three  of    them   could 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  121 

overpower  him?  One  shudder  after  another 
travelled  down  his  spinal  column  as  he  stood 
and  stared  at  them. 

But  strangely  enough,  the  wild  geese  seemed 
to  feel  the  same  aversion  toward  the  rats  that 
he  did.  They  did  not  speak  to  them;  and 
when  they  were  gone,  they  shook  themselves 
as  if  their  feathers  had  been  mud-bespattered. 

"Such  a  lot  of  gray  rats  abroad!"  said  Iksi 
from  Vassijaure.     "That's  not  a  good  omen." 

The  boy  intended  to  take  advantage  of  this 
opportunity  to  say  to  Akka  that  he  thought 
she  ought  to  let  him  go  with  them  to  Kulla- 
berg,  but  he  was  prevented  anew,  for  all  of  a 
sudden  a  big  bird  came  down  in  the  midst  of 
the  geese. 

One  could  believe,  when  one  looked  at  this 
bird,  that  he  had  borrowed  body,  neck  and 
head  from  a  little  white  goose.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  he  had  procured  for  himself  large 
black  wings,  long  red  legs,  and  a  thick  bill, 
which  was  too  large  for  the  little  head,  and 
weighed  it  down  imtil  it  gave  him  a  sad  and 
worried  look. 

Akka  at  once  straightened  out  the  folds  of 


122  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

her  wings,  and  curtsied  many  times  as  she 
approached  the  stork.  She  wasn't  specially 
surprised  to  see  him  in  Sk^ne  so  early  in  the 
spring,  because  she  knew  that  the  male  storks 
are  in  the  habit  of  coming  over  in  good  season 
to  take  a  look  at  the  nest,  and  see  that  it 
hasn't  been  damaged  during  the  winter, 
before  the  female  storks  go  to  the  trouble  of 
flying  over  the  East  sea.  But  she  wondered 
very  much  what  it  might  signify  that  he 
sought  her  out,  since  storks  prefer  to  associate 
with  members  of  their  own  family. 

"  I  can  hardly  believe  that  there  is  anything 
wrong  with  your  house,  Herr  Ermenrich," 
said  Akka. 

It  was  apparent  now  that  it  is  true  what 
they  say:  a  stork  can  seldom  open  his  bill 
without  complaining.  But  what  made  the 
thing  he  said  sound  even  more  doleful  was 
that  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  speak  out.  He 
stood  for  a  long  time  and  only  clattered  with 
his  bill;  afterward  he  spoke  in  a  hoarse  and 
feeble  voice.  He  complained  about  every- 
thing: the  nest — which  was  situated  at  the 
very  top  of  the  roof- tree  at  Glimminge  castle — 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  123 

had  been  totally  destroyed  by  winter  storms; 
and  no  food  could  he  get  any  more  in  Sk&ne. 
The  people  of  Skdne  were  appropriating  all 
his  possessions.  They  dug  out  his  marshes 
and  laid  waste  his  swamps.  He  intended  to 
move  away  from  this  country,  and  never 
return  to  it  again. 

While  the  stork  grumbled,  Akka,  the  wild 
goose  who  had  neither  home  nor  protection, 
could  not  help  thinking  to  herself:  "If  I  had 
things  as  comfortable  as  you  have,  Herr 
Ermenrich,  I  should  be  above  complaining. 
You  have  remained  a  free  and  wild  bird ;  and 
still  you  stand  so  well  with  human  beings  that 
no  one  will  fire  a  shot  at  you,  or  steal  an  egg 
from  your  nest."  But  all  this  she  kept  to 
herself.  To  the  stork  she  only  remarked, 
that  she  couldn't  believe  he  would  be  willing 
to  move  from  a  house  where  storks  had 
resided  ever  since  it  was  built. 

Then  the  stork  suddenly  asked  the  geese  if 
they  had  seen  the  gray  rats  who  were  march- 
ing toward  Glimminge  castle.  When  Akka  re- 
plied that  she  had  seen  the  horrid  creatures, 
he  began  to  tell  her  about  the  brave  black 


124  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

rats  who,  for  years,  had  defended  the  castle. 
"But  this  night  GHmminge  castle  will  fall  into 
the  gray  rats'  power,"  sighed  the  stork. 

"And  why  just  this  night,  Herr  Ermen- 
rich?"  asked  Akka. 

"  Well,  because  nearly  all  the  black  rats  went 
over  to  Kullaberg  last  night,"  said  the  stork, 
"since  they  had  counted  on  all  the  rest  of  the 
animals  also  hurrying  there.  But  you  see 
that  the  gray  rats  have  stayed  at  home;  and 
now  they  are  mustering  to  storm  the  castle 
to-night,  when  it  will  be  defended  by  only 
a  few  old  creatures  who  are  too  feeble  to 
go  over  to  Kullaberg.  They'll  probably 
accomplish  their  purpose.  But  I  have  lived 
here  in  harmony  with  the  black  rats  for  so 
many  years,  that  it  does  not  please  me  to 
live  in  a  place  inhabited  by  their  enemies." 

Akka  understood  now  that  the  stork  had 
become  so  enraged  over  the  gray  rats  mode  of 
action,  that  he  had  sought  her  out  as  an  excuse 
to  complain  about  them.  But  after  the  man- 
ner of  storks,  he  certainly  had  done  nothing 
to  avert  the  disaster.  "Have  you  sent  word 
to    the    black    rats,    Herr   Ermenrich?"  she 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  125 

asked.  "No,"  replied  the  stork,  "that 
wouldn't  be  of  any  use.  Before  they  can  get 
back,  the  castle  will  be  taken."  "You 
mustn't  be  so  sure  of  that,  Herr  Ermenrich," 
said  Akka.  "  I  know  an  old  wild  goose,  I  do, 
who  will  gladly  prevent  outrages  of  this 
kind." 

When  Akka  said  this,  the  stork  raised  his 
head  and  stared  at  her.  And  it  was  not 
surprising,  for  Akka  had  neither  claws  nor 
bill  that  were  fit  for  fighting;  and,  in  the  bar- 
gain, she  was  a  day  bird,  and  as  soon  as  it 
grew  dark  she  fell  helplessly  asleep,  while 
the  rats  did  their  fighting  at  night. 

But  Akka  had  evidently  made  up  her  mind 
to  help  the  black  rats.  She  called  Iksi  from 
Vassijaure,  and  ordered  him  to  take  the  wild 
geese  over  to  Vomb  Lake ;  and  when  the  geese 
made  excuses,  she  said  authoritatively:  "I 
believe  it  will  be  best  for  us  all  that  you  obey 
me.  I  inust  fly  over  to  the  big  stone  house, 
and  if  you  follow  me,  the  people  on  the  place 
will  be  sure  to  see  us,  and  shoot  us  down. 
The  only  one  that  I  want  to  take  with  me  on 
this  trip  is  Thumbietot.      He  can  be  of  great 


126 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


service  to  me  because  he  has  good  eyes,  and 
can  keep  awake  at  night." 

The  boy  was  in  his  most  contrary  mood 
that  day.  And  when  he  heard  what  Akka 
said,  he  raised  himself  to  his  full  height  and 
stepped  forward,  his  hands  behind  him  and 
his  nose  in  the  air,  and  he  intended  to  say 
that  he,  most  assuredly,  did  not  wish  to  take 
a  hand  in  the  fight  with  gray  rats.  She 
might  look  around  for  assistance  elsewhere. 

But  the  instant  the  boy  was  seen,  the  stork 
began  to  move.  He  had  stood  before,  as 
storks  generally  stand,  with  head  bent  down- 
ward and  the  bill  pressed  against  the  neck. 
But  now  a  gurgle  was  heard  deep  down  in  his 
windpipe;  as  though  he  would  have  laughed. 
Quick  as  a  flash,  he  lowered  the  bill,  grabbed 
the  boy,  and  tossed  him  a  couple  of  metres 
in  the  air.  This  feat  he  performed  seven 
times,  while  the  boy  shrieked  and  the  geese 
shouted:  "What  are  you  trying  to  do,  Herr 
Ermenrich?  That's  not  a  frog.  That's  a 
human  being,  Herr  Ermenrich." 

Finally  the  stork  put  the  boy  down 
entirely  unhurt.     Thereupon  he  said  to  Akka: 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  127 

"I'll  fly  back  to  Glimminge  castle  now, 
mother  Akka.  All  who  live  there  were  very 
much  worried  when  I  left.  You  may  be  sure 
they'll  be  very  glad  when  I  tell  them  that 
Akka,  the  wild  goose,  and  Thumb ietot,  the 
human  elf,  are  on  their  way  to  rescue 
them."  With  that  the  stork  craned  his 
neck,  raised  his  wings,  and  darted  off  like  an 
arrow  when  it  leaves  a  well-drawn  bow. 
Akka  understood  that  he  was  making  fun  of 
her,  but  she  didn't  let  it  bother  her.  She 
waited  until  the  boy  had  found  his  wooden 
shoes,  which  the  stork  had  shaken  off;  then 
she  put  him  on  her  back  and  followed  the 
stork.  On  his  own  account,  the  boy  made  no 
objection,  and  said  not  a  word  about  not  want- 
ing to  go  along.  He  had  become  so  furious 
with  the  stork,  that  he  actually  sat  and  puffed. 
That  long,  red-legged  thing  believed  he  was  of 
no  account  just  because  he  was  little;  but  he 
would  show  him  what  kind  of  a  man  Nils 
Holgersson  from  West  Vemminghog  was. 

A  couple  of  moments  later  Akka  stood  in 
the  storks'  nest  at  Glimminge  castle.  It 
was  a  fine,  large  nest.     It  had  a  wheel  for 


128  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

foundation,  and  over  this  lay  several  grass- 
mats,  and  some  twigs.  The  nest  was  so  old 
that  many  shrubs  and  plants  had  taken 
root  up  there ;  and  when  the  mother  stork  sat 
on  her  eggs  in  the  round  hole  in  the  middle 
of  the  nest,  she  not  only  had  the  beautiful 
outlook  over  a  goodly  portion  of  Skane  to 
enjoy,  but  she  had  also  the  wild  brier-blos- 
soms and  house-leeks  to  look  upon. 

Both  Akka  and  the  boy  saw  immediately 
that  something  was  going  on  here,  which  turned 
up  and  down — in  the  most  regular  order.  On 
the  edge  of  the  stork-nest  sat  two  gray  owls,  an 
old,  gray-streaked  cat,  and  a  dozen  old, 
decrepit  rats  with  protruding  teeth  and  watery 
eyes.  They  were  not  exactly  the  sort  of  animals 
one  usually  finds  living  peaceably  together. 

Not  one  of  them  turned  around  to  look  at 
Akka,  or  to  bid  her  welcome.  They  thought 
of  nothing  except  to  sit  and  stare  at  some 
long,  gray  lines,  which  came  into  sight  here 
and    there— on    the    winter-naked    meadows 

All  the  black  rats  were  silent.  One  could 
see  that  they  were  in  deep  despair,  and  prob- 
ably  knew   that  they  could  neither  defend 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  129 

their  own  lives — or  the  castle.  The  two  owls 
sat  and  rolled  their  big  eyes,  and  twisted  their 
great,  encircling  eyebrows,  and  talked  in 
hollow,  ghost-like  voices,  about  the  awful 
cruelty  of  the  gray  rats,  and  that  they  would 
have  to  move  away  from  their  nest,  because 
they  had  heard  it  said  of  them  that  they 
spared  neither  eggs  nor  baby  birds.  The  old 
gray-streaked  cat  was  positive  that  the  gray 
rats  would  bite  him  to  death,  since  they  were 
coming  into  the  castle  in  such  great  numbers, 
and  he  scolded  the  black  rats  incessantly."  How 
could  you  be  so  idiotic  as  to  let  your  best  fight- 
ers go  away  ? ' '  said  he.  "  How  could  you  trust 
the  gray  rats  ?  It  is  absolutely  unpardonable ! ' ' 
The  twelve  black  rats  did  not  say  a  word. 
But  the  stork,  despite  his  misery,  could  not 
refrain  from  teasing  the  cat.  "Don't  worry 
so,  Monsie  house-cat!"  said  he.  "Can't  you 
see  that  mother  Akka  and  Thumbietot  have 
come  to  save  the  castle?  You  can  be  certain 
that  they'll  succeed.  Now  I  must  stand  up 
to  sleep — and  I  do  so  with  the  utmost  calm. 
To-morrow,  when  I  awaken,  there  won't  be 
a  single  gray  rat  in  Glimminge  castle." 


I30  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  boy  winked  at  Akka,  and  made  a  sign 
— as  the  stork  stood  upon  the  very  edge  of  the 
nest,  with  one  leg  drawn  up,  to  sleep — that  he 
wanted  to  push  him  down  to  the  ground;  but 
Akka  restrained  him.  She  did  not  seem  to 
be  the  least  bit  angry.  Instead,  she  said  in  a 
confident  tone  of  voice:  "  It  would  be  pretty 
poor  business  if  one  who  is  as  old  as  I  am  could 
not  manage  to  get  out  of  worse  difficulties  than 
this.  If  only  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owl,  who  can  stay 
awake  all  night,  will  fly  off  with  a  couple  of 
messages  for  me,  I  think  that  all  will  go  well." 

Both  owls  were  willing.  Then  Akka  bade 
the  gentleman  owl  that  he  should  go  and  seek 
the  black  rats  who  had  gone  off,  and  counsel 
them  to  hurry  home  immediately.  The  lad}^ 
owl  he  sent  to  Flammea,  the  steeple-owl, 
who  lived  in  Lund  cathedral,  with  a  commis- 
sion which  was  so  secret  that  Akka  only  dared 
to  confide  it  to  her  in  a  whisper. 

THE    RAT   CHARMER 

It  was  getting  on  toward  midnight  when 
the  gray  rats  after  a  diligent  search  suc- 
ceeded  in   finding   an  open    air-hole   in  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  131 

cellar.  This  was  pretty  high  upon  the  wall; 
but  the  rats  got  up  on  one  another's  shoulders, 
and  it  wasn't  long  before  the  most  daring 
among  them  sat  in  the  air-hole,  ready  to 
force  its  way  into  Glimminge  castle,  outside 
whose  walls  so  many  of  its  forebears  had 
fallen. 

The  gray  rat  sat  still  for  a  moment  in  the 
hole,  and  waited  for  an  attack  from  within. 
The  leader  of  the  defenders  was  certainly 
away,  but  she  assumed  that  the  black  rats 
who  were  still  in  the  castle  wouldn't  sur- 
render without  a  struggle.  With  thumping 
heart  she  listened  for  the  slightest  sound, 
but  everything  remained  quiet.  Then  the 
leader  of  the  gray  rats  plucked  up  courage  and 
jumped  down  in  the  coal-black  cellar. 

One  after  another  of  the  gray  rats  followed 
the  leader.  They  all  kept  very  quiet;  and 
all  expected  to  be  ambushed  by  the  black 
rats.  Not  until  so  many  of  them  had  crowded 
into  the  cellar  that  the  floor  couldn't  hold  any 
more,  did  they  venture  farther. 

Although  they  had  never  before  been  inside 
the  building,  they  had  no  difficulty  in  finding 


132  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

their  way.  They  soon  found  the  passages 
in  the  walls  which  the  black  rats  had  used  to 
get  to  the  upper  floors.  Before  they  began 
to  clamber  up  these  narrow  and  steep  steps, 
they  listened  again  with  great  attention. 
They  felt  more  frightened  because  the  black 
rats  held  themselves  aloof  in  this  way,  than 
if  they  had  met  them  in  open  battle.  They 
could  hardly  believe  their  luck  when  they 
reached  the  first  story  without  any  mishaps. 
Immediately  upon  their  entrance  the  gray 
rats  caught  the  scent  of  the  grain,  which  was 
stored  in  great  bins  on  the  floor.  But  it  was 
not  as  yet  time  for  them  to  begin  to  enjoy 
their  conquest.  They  searched  first,  with  the 
utmost  caution,  through  the  sombre,  empty 
rooms.  They  ran  up  in  the  fireplace,  which 
stood  on  the  floor  in  the  old  castle  kitchen, 
and  they  almost  tumbled  into  the  well,  in  the 
inner  room.  Not  one  of  the  narrow  peep- 
holes did  they  leave  uninspected,  but  they 
found  no  black  rats.  When  this  floor  was 
wholly  in  their  possession,  they  began,  with 
the  same  caution,  to  acquire  the  next.  Then 
they  had  to  venture  on  a  bold  and  dangerous 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  133 

climb  through  the  walls,  while,  with  breath- 
less anxiety,  they  awaited  an  assault  from 
the  enemy.  And  although  they  were  tempt- 
ed by  the  most  delicious  odour  from  the 
grain  bins,  they  forced  themselves  most 
systematically  to  inspect  the  old-time  war- 
riors' pillar-propped  kitchen;  their  stone 
table,  and  fireplace;  the  deep  window-niches, 
and  the  hole  in  the  floor — which  in  olden 
time  had  been  opened  to  pour  down  boiling 
pitch   on    the    intruding   enemy. 

All  this  time  the  black  rats  were  invisible. 
The  gray  ones  groped  their  way  to  the  third 
story,  and  into  the  lord  of  the  castle's  great 
banquet  hall — which  stood  there  cold  and 
empty,  like  all  the  other  rooms  in  the  old 
house.  They  even  groped  their  way  to  the 
upper  story,  which  had  but  one  big,  barren 
room.  The  only  place  they  did  not  think 
of  exploring,  was  the  big  stork-nest  on  the 
roof — ^where,  just  at  this  time,  the  lady 
owl  awakened  Akka,  and  informed  her  that 
Flammea,  the  steeple  owl,  had  granted  her 
request,  and  had  sent  her  the  thing  she 
wished  for. 


134 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


Since  the  gray  rats  had  so  conscientiously 
inspected  the  entire  castle,  they  felt  at  ease. 
They  took  it  for  granted  that  the  black  rats 
had  flown,  and  didn't  intend  to  offer  any 
resistance;  and,  with  light  hearts,  they  ran 
up  into  the  grain  bins. 

But  the  gray  rats  had  hardly  swallowed 
the  first  wheat-grains,  before  the  sound  of  a 
little  shrill  pipe  was  heard  from  the  yard. 
The  gray  rats  raised  their  heads,  listened 
anxiously,  ran  a  few  steps  as  if  they  intended 
to  leave  the  bin,  then  they  turned  back  and 
began  to  eat  once  more. 

Again  the  pipe  sounded  a  sharp  and 
piercing  note — and  now  something  wonder- 
ful happened.  One  rat,  two  rats — yes,  a 
whole  lot  of  rats  left  the  grain,  jumped  from 
the  bins  and  hurried  down  cellar  by  the  short- 
est cut,  to  get  out  of  the  house.  Still 
there  were  many  gray  rats  left.  These 
thought  of  all  the  toil  and  trouble  it  had  cost 
them  to  win  Glimminge  castle,  and  they  did 
not  want  to  leave  it.  But  again  they  caught 
the  tones  from  the  pipe,  and  had  to  follow 
them.     With    wild   excitement    they   rushed 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  135 

up  from  the  bins,  slid  down  through  the  nar- 
row holes  in  the  walls,  and  tumbled  over 
each  other  in  their  eagerness  to  get  out. 

In  the  middle  of  the  courtyard  stood  a  tiny 
creature,  who  blew  upon  a  pipe.  All  round 
him  he  had  a  whole  circle  of  rats  who  listened 
to  him,  astonished  and  fascinated;  and  every 
moment  brought  more.  Once  he  took  the 
pipe  from  his  lips — only  for  a  second — put  his 
thumb  to  his  nose  and  wiggled  his  fingers 
at  the  gray  rats;  and  then  it  looked  as  if 
they  wanted  to  throw  themselves  on  him  and 
bite  him  to  death ;  but  as  soon  as  he  blew  on 
his  pipe  they  were  in  his  power. 

When  the  tiny  creature  had  played  all  the 
gray  rats  out  of  Glimminge  castle,  he  began 
to  wander  slowly  from  the  courtyard  out  on 
the  highway;  and  all  the  gray  rats  followed 
him,  because  the  tones  from  that  pipe  sounded 
so  sweet  to  their  ears  that  they  could  not 
resist  them. 

The  tiny  creature  walked  before  them  and 
charmed  them  along  with  him,  on  the  road 
to  Vallby.  He  led  them  into  all  sorts  of 
crooks    and    turns    and    bends — on    through 


136  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

hedges  and  down  into  ditches — ^and  vtrherever 
he  went  they  had  to  follow.  He  blew 
continuously  on  his  pipe,  which  appeared  to 
be  made  from  an  animal's  horn,  although  the 
horn  was  so  small  that,  in  our  days,  there 
were  no  animals  from  whose  foreheads  it  could 
have  been  broken.  No  one  knew,  either, 
who  had  made  it.  Flammea,  the  steeple- 
owl,  had  found  it  in  a  niche,  in  Lund  cathedral. 
She  had  shown  it  to  Bataki,  the  raven;  and 
they  had  both  figured  out  that  this  was  the 
kind  of  horn  that  was  used  in  former  times 
by  those  who  wished  to  gain  power  over  rats 
and  mice.  But  the  raven  was  Akka's  friend; 
and  it  was  from  him  she  had  learned  that 
Flammea  owned  a  treasure  like  this. 

And  it  was  true  that  the  rats  could  not 
resist  the  pipe.  The  boy  walked  before  them 
and  played  as  long  as  the  starlight  lasted — 
and  all  the  while  they  followed  him.  He 
played  at  daybreak;  he  played  at  sunrise; 
and  the  whole  time  the  entire  procession  of 
gray  rats  followed  him,  and  were  enticed 
farther  and  farther  away  from  the  big  grain 
loft  at  Glimminge  castle. 


THE  GREAT  CRANE  DANCE  ON 
KULLABERG 

Tuesday,  March  twenty-ninth, 

ALTHOUGH  there  are  many  magnificent 
buildings  in  Skdne,  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  there's  not  one  among  them  that 
has  such  pretty  walls  as  old  Kullaberg. 

KuUaberg  is  low  and  rather  long.  It  is  not 
by  any  means  a  big  or  imposing  mountain. 
On  its  broad  summit  you'll  find  woods  and 
grain  fields,  and  one  and  another  heather- 
heath.  Here  and  there,  round  heather-knolls 
and  barren  cliffs  rise  up.  It  is  not  especially 
pretty  up  there.  It  looks  a  good  deal  like  all 
the  other  upland  places  in  Skane. 

He  who  walks  along  the  path  which  runs 
across  the  middle  of  the  mountain,  can't  help 
feeling  a  little  disappointed.  Then  he  hap- 
pens, perhaps,  to  turn  away  from  the  path, 
and  wanders  off  toward  the  mountain's  sides 

137 


138  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

and  looks  down  over  the  bluffs;  and  then, 
all  at  once,  he  will  discover  so  much  that  is 
worth  seeing,  he  hardly  knows  how  he'll  find 
time  to  take  in  the  whole  of  it.  For  it  hap- 
pens that  Kullaberg  does  not  stand  on  the 
land,  with  plains  and  valleys  around  it,  like 
other  mountains;  but  it  has  plunged  into  the 
sea,  as  far  out  as  it  could  get.  Not  even  the 
tiniest  strip  of  land  lies  below  the  mountain 
to  protect  it  against  the  breakers;  but  these 
reach  all  the  way  up  to  the  mountain  walls, 
and  can  polish  and  mould  them  to  suit 
themselves.  This  is  why  the  walls  stand 
there  as  richly  ornamented  as  the  sea  and  its 
helpmeet,  the  wind,  have  been  able  to  effect. 
You'll  find  steep  ravines  that  are  deeply 
chiselled  in  the  mountain's  sides;  and  black 
crags  that  have  become  smooth  and  shiny 
under  the  constant  lashing  of  the  winds. 
There  are  solitary  rock-columns  that  spring 
right  up  out  of  the  water,  and  dark  grottoes 
with  narrow  entrances.  There  are  barren, 
perpendicular  precipices,  and  soft,  leaf-clad 
inclines.  There  are  small  points,  and  small 
inlets,    and    small    rolling    stones    that    are 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  139 

rattlingly  washed  up  and  down  with  every  dash- 
ing breaker.  There  are  majestic  cHff-arches 
that  project  over  the  water.  There  are  sharp 
stones  that  are  constantly  sprayed  by  a 
white  foam;  and  others  that  mirror  them- 
selves in  unchangeable  dark-green  still  water. 
There  are  giant  troll-caverns  shaped  in  the 
rock,  and  great  crevices  that  lure  the  wan- 
derer to  venture  into  the  mountain's  depths 
— ^all  the  way  to  Kullman's  Hollow. 

And  over  and  around  all  these  cliffs  and 
rocks  crawl  entangled  tendrils  and  weeds. 
Trees  grow  there  also,  but  the  wind's  power 
is  so  great  that  trees  have  to  transform  them- 
selves into  clinging  vines,  that  they  may  get 
a  firm  hold  on  the  steep  precipices.  The  oaks 
creep  along  on  the  ground,  while  their  foliage 
hangs  over  them  like  a  low  ceiling;  and  long- 
limbed  beeches  stand  in  the  ravines  like  great 
leaf -tents. 

These  remarkable  mountain  walls,  with 
the  blue  sea  beneath  them,  and  the  clear 
penetrating  air  above  them,  is  what  makes 
KuUaberg  so  dear  to  the  people  that  great 
crowds  of  them  haunt  the  place  every  day 


I40  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

as  long  as  the  summer  lasts.  But  it  is  more 
difficult  to  tell  what  it  is  that  makes  it  so 
attractive  to  animals,  that  every  year  they 
gather  there  for  a  big  play-meeting.  This  is 
a  custom  that  has  been  observed  since  time 
immemorial;  and  one  should  have  been  there 
when  the  first  sea-wave  was  dashed  into  foam 
against  the  shore,  to  be  able  to  explain  why 
just  Kullaberg  was  chosen  as  a  rendezvous, 
in  preference  to  all  other  places. 

When  the  meeting  is  to  take  place,  the 
stags  and  roebucks  and  hares  and  foxes  and 
all  the  other  four-footers  make  the  journey 
to  Kullaberg  the  night  before,  so  as  not  to  be 
observed  by  the  human  beings.  Just  before 
sunrise  they  all  march  up  to  the  playground, 
which  is  a  heather-heath  on  the  left  side  of  the 
road,  and  not  very  far  from  the  mountain's 
most  extreme  point.  The  playground  is 
inclosed  on  all  sides  by  round  knolls,  which 
conceal  it  from  any  and  all  who  do  not  happen 
to  come  right  upon  it.  And  in  the  month  of 
March  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  any  pedes- 
trians will  stray  off  up  there.  All  the  strangers 
who  usually  stroll  around  on  the  rocks,  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  141 

clamber  up  the  mountain's  sides  the  fall 
storms  have  driven  away  these  many  months 
past.  And  the  lighthouse  keeper  out  there 
on  the  point;  the  old  fru  on  the  mountain 
farm,  and  the  mountain  peasant  and  his 
house-folk  go  their  accustomed  ways,  and  do 
not  run  about  on  the  desolate  heather-fields. 

When  the  four-footers  have  arrived  on  the 
playground,  they  take  their  places  on  the 
round  knolls.  Each  animal  family  keeps  to 
itself,  although  it  is  understood  that,  on  a 
day  like  this,  universal  peace  reigns,  and  no 
one  need  fear  attack.  On  this  day  a  little 
hare  might  wander  over  to  the  foxes'  hill, 
without  losing  as  much  as  one  of  his  long  ears. 
But  still  the  animals  arrange  themselves  into 
separate  groups.     This  is  an  old  custom. 

After  they  have  all  taken  their  places,  they 
begin  to  look  around  for  the  birds.  It 
is  always  beautiful  weather  on  this  day. 
The  cranes  are  good  weather  prophets,  and 
would  not  call  the  animals  together  if  they 
expected  rain.  Although  the  air  is  clear,  and 
nothing  obstructs  the  vision,  the  four-footers 
see    no    birds.     This    is    strange.     The    sun 


143  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

stands  high  in  the  heavens,  and  the  birds 
should  already  be  on  their  way. 

But  what  the  animals,  on  the  other  hand, 
observe,  is  one  and  another  little  dark  cloud 
that  comes  slowly  forward  over  the  plain. 
And  look!  one  of  these  clouds  comes  gradually 
along  the  coast  of  Oresund,  and  up  toward 
Kullaberg.  When  the  cloud  has  come  just 
over  the  playground  it  stops,  and,  simul- 
taneously, the  entire  cloud  begins  to  ring  and 
chirp,  as  if  it  was  made  of  nothing  but  tone. 
It  rises  and  sinks,  rises  and  sinks,  but  all  the 
while  it  rings  and  chirps.  At  last  the  whole 
cloud  falls  down  over  a  knoll — all  at  once — 
and  the  next  instant  the  knoll  is  entirely 
covered  with  gray  larks,  pretty  red-white-gray 
bulfinches,  speckled  starlings  and  greenish- 
yellow  titmice. 

Soon  after  that,  another  cloud  comes  over 
the  plain.  This  stops  over  every  bit  of  land; 
over  peasant  cottage  and  palace;  over  towns 
and  cities;  over  farms  and  railway  stations; 
over  fishing  hamlets  and  sugar  refineries. 
Every  time  it  stops,  it  draws  to  itself  a  little 
whirling  column  of  gray  dust-grains  from  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


143 


ground.  In  this  way  it  grows  and  grows. 
And  at  last,  when  it  is  all  gathered  up  and 
heads  for  Kullaberg  it  is  no  longer  a  cloud 
but  a  whole  mist,  which  is  so  big  that  it  throws 
a  shadow  on  the  ground  all  the  way  from 
Hoganas  to  Molle.  When  it  stops  over  the 
playground  it  hides  the  sun;  and  for  a  long 
while  it  had  to  rain  gray  sparrows  on  one  of 
the  knolls,  before  those  who  had  been  flying 
in  the  innermost  part  of  the  mist  could  again 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  daylight. 

But  still  the  biggest  of  these  bird-clouds  is 
the  one  which  now  appears.  This  has  been 
formed  of  birds  who  have  travelled  from  every 
direction  to  join  it.  It  is  dark  bluish-gray, 
and  no  sun-ray  can  penetrate  it.  It  is  full 
of  the  ghastliest  noises,  the  most  frightful 
shrieks,  the  grimmest  laughter,  and  most 
ill-luck-boding  croaking!  All  on  the  play- 
ground are  glad  when  it  finally  resolves  itself 
into  a  storm  of  fluttering  and  croaking:  of 
crows  and  jackdaws  and  rooks  and  ravens. 

Thereupon  not  only  clouds  are  seen  in  the 
heavens,  but  a  variety  of  stripes  and  figures. 
Then  straight,  dotted  lines  appear  in  the  East 


144 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


and  Northeast.  These  are  forest-birds  from 
Goinge  districts:  black  grouse  and  wood 
grouse  who  come  flying  in  long  lines  a 
couple  of  metres  apart.  Swimming-birds 
that  live  around  Maklappen,  just  out  of 
Falsterbo,  now  come  floating  over  Oresund  in 
many  extraordinary  figures :  in  triangular  and 
long  curves;  in  sharp  hooks  and  semicircles. 

To  the  great  reunion  held  the  year  that 
Nils  Holgersson  travelled  around  with  the 
wild  geese,  came  Akka  and  her  flock — later 
than, all  the  others.  And  that  was  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  for  Akka  had  to  fly  over  the 
whole  of  Skane  to  get  to  Kullaberg.  Beside, 
as  soon  as  she  awoke,  she  had  been  obliged  to 
go  out  and  hunt  for  Thumb ietot,  who,  for 
many  hours,  had  gone  and  played  to  the  gray 
rats,  and  lured  them  far  away  from  Glimminge 
castle.  Mr.  Owl  had  returned  with  the  news 
that  the  black  rats  would  be  at  home  imme- 
diately after  sunrise ;  and  there  was  no  longer 
any  danger  in  letting  the  steeple-owl's  pipe 
be  hushed,  and  to  give  the  gray  rats  the 
liberty  to  go  where  they  pleased. 

But  it  was  not  Akka  who  discovered  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  145 

boy  where  he  walked  with  his  long  following, 
and  quickly  sank  down  over  him  and  caught 
him  with  the  bill  and  swung  into  the  air  with 
him,  but  it  was  Herr  Ermenrich,  the  stork! 
For  Herr  Ermenrich  had  also  gone  out  to  look 
for  him ;  and  after  he  had  borne  him  up  to  the 
stork-nest,  he  begged  his  forgiveness  for  hav- 
ing treated  him  with  disrespect  the  evening 
before. 

This  pleased  the  boy  immensely,  and  the 
stork  and  he  became  good  friends.  Akka,  too, 
showed  him  that  she  felt  very  kindly  toward 
him;  she  stroked  her  old  head  several  times 
against  his  arms,  and  commended  him  because 
he  had  helped  those  who  were  in  trouble. 

But  this  one  must  say  to  the  boy's  credit: 
that  he  did  not  want  to  accept  praise  which 
he  had  not  earned.  "No,  mother  Akka,"  he 
said,  "  you  mustn't  think  that  I  lured  the  gray 
rats  away  to  help  the  black  ones.  I  only 
wanted  to  show  Herr  Ermenrich  that  I  was 
of  some  consequence." 

He  had  hardly  saidthis  before  Akka  turned  to 
the  stork  and  asked  if  he  thought  it  was 
advisable  to  take  Thumbietot  along  to  Kulla- 


146 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


berg.  "  I  mean,  that  we  can  rely  on  him  as 
upon  ourselves,"  said  she.  The  stork  at  once 
advised,  most  enthusiastically,  that  Thumb- 
ietot  be  permitted  to  come  along.  "Cer- 
tainly you  shall  take  Thumbietot  along  to 
Kullaberg,  mother  Akka,"  said  he.  "It  is 
fortunate  for  us  that  we  can  repay  him  for 
all  that  he  has  endured  this  night  for  our  sakes. 
And  since  it  still  grieves  me  to  think  that  I 
did  not  conduct  myself  in  a  becoming  manner 
toward  him  the  other  evening,  it  is  I  who 
will  carry  him  on  my  back — all  the  way  to  the 
meeting  place." 

There  isn't  much  that  tastes  better  than  to 
receive  praise  from  those  who  are  themselves 
wise  and  capable;  and  the  boy  had  certainly 
never  felt  so  happy  as  he  did  when  the  wild 
goose  and  the  stork  talked  about  him  in  this 
way. 

Thus  the  boy  made  the  trip  to  Kullaberg, 
riding  stork-back.  Although  he  knew  that 
this  was  a  great  honour,  it  caused  him  much 
anxiety,  for  Herr  Ermenrich  was  a  master 
flyer,  and  started  off  at  a  very  different  pace 
from  the  wild  geese.     While  Akka  flew  her 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  147 

straight  way  with  even  wing-strokes,  the 
stork  amused  himself  by  performing  a  lot  of 
flying  tricks.  Now  he  lay  still  in  an 
immeasurable  height,  and  floated  in  the  air 
without  moving  his  wings,  now  he  flung  him- 
self downward  with  such  sudden  haste  that  it 
seemed  as  though  he  would  fall  to  the  ground, 
helpless  as  a  stone;  now  he  had  lots  of  fun 
flying  all  around  Akka,  in  great  and  small 
circles,  like  a  whirlwind.  The  boy  had  never 
been  on  a  ride  of  this  sort  before;  and  al- 
though he  sat  there  all  the  while  in  terror, 
he  had  to  acknowledge  to  himself  that  he  had 
never  before  known  what  a  good  flight  meant. 

Only  a  single  pause  was  made  during  the 
journey,  and  that  was  at  Vomb  Lake  when 
Akka  joined  her  travelling  companions,  and 
called  to  them  that  the  gray  rats  had  been 
vanquished.  After  that,  the  travellers  flew 
straight  to  Kullaberg. 

There  they  descended  to  the  knoll  reserved 
for  the  wild  geese;  and  as  the  boy  let  his 
glance  wander  from  knoll  to  knoll,  he  saw  on 
one  of  them  the  many-pointed  antlers  of  the 
stags;  and  on  another,  the  gray  herons'  neck- 


148 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


crests.  One  knoll  was  red  with  foxes,  one 
was  gray  with  rats;  one  was  covered  with 
black  ravens  who  shrieked  continually,  one 
with  larks  who  simply  couldn't  keep  still,  but 
kept  on  throwing  themselves  in  the  air  and 
singing  for  very  joy. 

Just  as  it  has  ever  been  the  custom  on 
Kullaberg,  it  was  the  crows  who  began  the 
day's  games  and  frolics  with  their  flying- 
dance.  They  divided  themselves  into  two 
flocks,  that  flew  toward  each  other,  met, 
turned,  and  began  all  over  again.  This 
dance  had  many  repetitions,  and  appeared  to 
the  spectators  who  were  not  familiar  with  the 
dance  as  altogether  too  monotonous.  The 
crows  were  very  proud  of  their  dance,  but  all 
the  others  were  glad  when  it  was  over.  It 
appeared  to  the  animals  about  as  gloomy  and 
meaningless  as  the  winter-storms'  play  with 
the  snow-flakes.  It  depressed  them  to  watch 
it,  and  they  waited  eagerly  for  something  that 
should  give  them  a  little  pleasure. 

They  did  not  have  to  wait  in  vain,  either; 
for  as  soon  as  the  crows  had  finished,  the  hares 
came  running.     They   dashed   forward   in  a 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  149 

long  row,  without  any  apparent  order.  In 
some  of  the  figures,  one  single  hare  came;  in 
others,  they  ran  three  and  four  abreast.  They 
had  all  raised  themselves  on  two  legs,  and  they 
rushed  forward  with  such  rapidity  that  their 
long  ears  swayed  in  all  directions.  As  they 
ran,  they  spun  round,  made  high  leaps  and 
beat  their  forepaws  against  their  hind-paws 
so  that  they  rattled.  Some  performed  a  long 
succession  of  somersaults,  others  doubled 
themselves  up  snd  rolled  over  like  wheels; 
one  stood  on  one  ^eg  and  swung  round;  one 
walked  upon  his  forepaws.  There  was  no 
regulation  whatever,  but  there  \^as  much 
that  was  droll  in  the  hares'  play;  and  the 
many  animals  who  stood  and  watched  them 
began  to  breathe  faster.  Now  it  was  spring; 
joy  and  rapture  were  advancing.  Winter  was 
over;  summer  was  coming.  Soon  it  was 
only  play  to  live. 

When  the  hares  had  romped  themselves  out, 
it  was  the  great  forest  birds'  turn  to  perform. 
Hundreds  of  wood-grouse  in  shining  dark- 
brown  array,  and  with  bright  red  eyebrows, 
flung  themselves  up  into  a  great  oak  that 


I50  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

stood  in  the  centre  of  the  playground.  The 
one  who  sat  upon  the  topmost  branch  fluffed 
up  his  feathers,  lowered  his  wings,  and  lifted 
his  tail  so  that  the  white  covert-feathers  were 
seen.  Thereupon  he  stretched  his  neck  and 
sent  forth  a  couple  of  deep  notes  from  his 
thick  throat.  "Tjack,  tjack,  tjack,"  it 
sounded.  More  than  this  he  could  not  utter. 
It  only  gurgled  a  few  times  way  down  in  the 
throat.  Then  he  closed  his  eyes  and  whis- 
pered: "Sis,  sis,  sis.  Hear  how  pretty!  Sis, 
sis,  sis."  At  the  same  time  he  fell  into  such 
an  ecstasy  that  he  no  longer  knew  what  was 
going  on  around  him. 

While  the  first  wood  grouse  was  sissing,  the 
three  nearest — under  him — ^began  to  sing ;  and 
before  they  had  finished  their  song,  the  ten 
who  sat  lower  down  joined  in;  and  thus  it 
continued  from  branch  to  branch,  until  the 
entire  hundred  grouse  sang  and  gurgled  and 
sissed.  They  all  fell  into  the  same  ecstasy 
during  their  song,  and  this  affected  the  other 
animals  like  a  contagious  transport.  Lately 
the  blood  had  flowed  lightly  and  agreeably; 
now  it  began  to  grow  heavy  and  hot.     "Yes, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  151 

this  is  surely  spring,"  thought  all  the  animal 
folk.  "Winter  chill  has  vanished.  The  fires 
of  spring  burn  over  the  earth." 

When  the  black  grouse  saw  that  the  brown 
grouse  were  having  such  success,  they  could 
no  longer  keep  quiet.  As  there  was  no  tree 
for  them  to  light  on,  they  rushed  down  on 
the  playground,  where  the  heather  stood  so 
high  that  only  their  beautifully  turned  tail- 
feathers  and  their  thick  bills  were  visible — 
and  they  began  to  sing;  "Orr,  orr,    orr." 

Just  as  the  black  grouse  began  to  compete 
with  the  brown  grouse,  something  unprece- 
dented happened.  While  all  the  animals 
thought  of  nothing  but  the  grouse-game,  a 
fox  stole  slowly  over  to  the  wild  geese's  knoll. 
He  glided  very  cautiously,  and  came  way  up 
on  the  knoll  before  anyone  noticed  him. 
Suddenly  a  goose  caught  sight  of  him ;  and  as 
she  could  not  believe  that  a  fox  had  sneaked 
in  among  the  geese  for  any  good  purpose,  she 
began  to  cry :  "  Have  a  care,  wild  geese !  Have 
a  care !' '  The  fox  struck  her  across  the  throat — 
mostly,  perhaps,  because  he  wanted  to  make 
her  keep  quiet — but  the  wild  geese  had  already 


152  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

heard  the  cry,  and  they  all  raised  themselves 
in  the  air.  And  when  they  had  flown  up,  the 
animals  saw  Smirre  Fox  standing  on  the  wild 
geese's  knoll,  with  a  dead  goose  in  his  mouth. 

But  because  he  had  in  this  way  broken 
the  play-day's  peace,  such  a  ptmishment  was 
meted  out  to  Smirre  Fox  that,  for  the  rest  of 
his  days,  he  must  regret  he  had  not  been 
able  to  control  his  thirst  for  revenge,  but  had 
attempted  to  approach  Akka  and  her  flock 
in  this  manner. 

He  was  immediately  surrounded  by  a  crowd 
of  foxes,  and  doomed  in  accordance  with  an 
old  custom,  which  demands  that  whosoever 
disturbs  the  peace  on  the  great  play-day,  must 
go  into  exile.  Not  a  fox  wished  to  lighten 
the  sentence,  since  they  all  knew  that  the 
instant  they  attempted  anything  of  the  sort, 
they  would  be  driven  from  the  playground, 
and  would  nevermore  be  permitted  to  enter 
it.  Banishment  was  pronounced  upon  Smirre 
without  opposition.  He  was  forbidden  to 
remain  in  Sk&ne.  He  was  banished  from  wife 
and  kindred;  from  hunting  grounds,  home, 
resting   places   and   retreats,    which   he   had 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  153 

hitherto  owned;  and  he  must  tempt  fortune 
in  foreign  lands.  So  that  all  foxes  in  Sk^ne 
should  know  that  Smirre  was  outlawed  in  the 
district,  the  oldest  of  the  foxes  bit  off  his  right 
earlap.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  all  the 
young  foxes  began  to  yowl  from  blood-thirst, 
and  threw  themselves  on  Smirre.  For  him 
there  was  no  alternative  except  to  take  flight ; 
and  with  all  the  young  foxes  in  hot  pursuit, 
he  rushed  away  from  Kullaberg. 

All  this  happened  while  black  grouse  and 
brown  grouse  were  going  on  with  their  games. 
But  these  birds  lose  themselves  so  completely 
in  their  song,  that  they  neither  hear  nor  see. 
Nor  had  they  permitted  themselves  to  be 
disturbed. 

The  forest  birds'  contest  was  barely  over, 
before  the  stags  from  Hackeberga  came  for- 
ward to  show  their  wrestling  game.  There 
were  several  pairs  of  stags  who  fought  at  the 
same  time.  They  rushed  at  each  other  with 
tremendous  force,  struck  their  antlers  dash- 
ingly together,  so  that  their  points  were 
entangled ;  and  tried  to  force  each  other  back- 
ward.    The    heather-heaths    were    torn    up 


154  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

beneath  their  hoofs;  the  breath  came  hke 
smoke  from  their  nostrils ;  out  of  their  throats 
strained  hideous  bellowings,  and  the  froth 
oozed  down  on  their  shoulders. 

On  the  knolls  round  about  there  was 
breathless  silence  while  the  skilled  stag- 
wrestlers  clinched.  In  all  the  animals  new 
emotions  were  awakened.  Each  and  all  felt 
courageous  and  strong;  enlivened  by  return- 
ing powers;  bom  again  with  the  spring; 
sprightly,  and  ready  for  all  kinds  of  adven- 
tures. They  felt  no  enmity  toward  each 
other,  although,  everywhere,  wings  were  lifted, 
neck-feathers  raised  and  claws  sharpened.  If 
the  stags  from  Hackeberga  had  continued 
another  instant,  a  wild  struggle  would  have 
arisen  on  the  knolls,  for  all  had  been  gripped 
with  a  burning  desire  to  show  that  they  too 
were  full  of  life  because  the  winter's  impotence 
was  over  and  strength  surged  through  their 
bodies. 

But  the  stags  stopped  wrestling  just  at 
the  right  moment,  and  instantly  a  whisper 
went  from  knoll  to  knoll:  "The  cranes  are 
coming!" 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  155 

And  then  came  the  gray,  dusk-clad  birds 
with  plumes  in  their  wings,  and  red  feather- 
ornaments  on  their  necks.  The  big  birds  with 
their  tall  legs,  their  slender  throats,  their 
small  heads,  came  gliding  down  the  knoll  with 
an  abandon  that  was  full  of  mystery.  As  they 
glided  forward  they  swung  round — half  flying, 
half  dancing.  With  wings  gracefully  lifted, 
they  moved  with  an  inconceivable  rapidity. 
There  was  something  marvellous  and  strange 
about  their  dance.  It  was  as  though  gray 
shadows  had  played  a  game  which  the  eye 
could  scarcely  follow.  It  was  as  if  they  had 
learned  it  from  the  mists  that  hover  over 
desolate  morasses.  There  was  witchcraft  in  it. 
All  those  who  had  never  before  been  on  Kul- 
laberg  understood  why  the  whole  meeting  took 
its  name  from  the  cranes*  dance.  There  was 
wildness  in  it;  but  yet  the  feeling  which  it 
awakened  was  a  delicious  longing.  No  one 
thought  any  more  about  struggling.  Instead, 
both  the  winged  and  those  who  had  no  wings, 
all  wanted  to  raise  themselves  eternally,  lift 
themselves  above  the  clouds,  seek  that 
which  was  hidden  beyond  them,  leave  the 


156 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


oppresssive  body  that  dragged  them  down  to 
earth  and  soar  away  toward  the  infinite. 

Such  longing  after  the  unattainable,  after 
the  hidden  mysteries  back  of  this  life,  the 
animals  felt  only  once  a  year ;  and  this  was  on 
the  day  when  they  beheld  the  great  crane 
dance. 


VI 

IN  RAINY  WEATHER 

Wednesday,  March  thirtieth. 

IT  WAS  the  first  rainy  day  of  the  trip. 
As  long  as  the  wild  geese  had  remained 
in  the  vicinity  of  Vomb  Lake,  they  had  had 
beautiful  weather;  but  on  the  day  when  they 
set  out  to  travel  farther  north,  it  began  to- 
rain,  and  for  several  hours  the  boy  had  to  sit 
on  the  goose-back,  soaking  wet,  and  shivering 
with  the  cold. 

In  the  morning  when  they  started,  it  had 
been  clear  and  mild.  The  wild  geese  had 
flown  high  up  in  the  air — evenly,  and  without 
haste — with  Akka  at  the  head  maintaining 
strict  discipline,  and  the  rest  in  two  oblique 
lines  back  of  her.  They  had  not  taken  the 
time  to  shout  any  witty  sarcasms  to  the 
animals  on  the  ground;  but,  as  it  was  simply 
impossible  for  them  to  keep  perfectly  silent, 
they  sang  out  continually — in  rhythm  with 

157 


iS8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

the  wing-strokes — their  usual  coaxing-call: 
"Where  are  you?  Here  am  I.  Where  are 
you?  Here  am  I." 

They  all  took  part  in  this  persistent  calling, 
and  only  stopped,  now  and  then,  to  show  the 
goosey-gander  the  landmarks  they  were  travel- 
ling over.  The  places  on  this  route  included 
Linderodsosen's  dry  hills,  Ovesholm's  manor, 
Christianstad's  church  steeple,  Backaskog's 
royal  castle  on  the  narrow^  isthmus  between 
Oppmann's  lake  and  Ivos  lake,  and  Ryss 
mountain's  steep  precipice. 

It  had  been  a  monotonous  trip,  and  when 
the  rain-clouds  made  their  appearance  the 
boy  thought  it  was  a  real  diversion.  In  the 
old  days,  when  he  had  only  seen  a  rain-cloud 
from  below,  he  had  imagined  that  they  were 
gray  and  disagreeable;  but  it  was  a  very 
different  thing  to  be  up  amongst  them.  Now 
he  saw  distinctly  that  the  clouds  were  enor- 
mous carts,  which  drove  through  the  heavens 
with  sky-high  loads.  Some  of  them  were 
piled  up  with  huge,  gray  sacks,  some  with 
barrels;  some  were  so  large  that  they  could 
hold  a  whole  lake;  and  a  few  were  filled  with 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  159 

big  utensils  and  bottles  which  were  piled  up 
to  an  immense  height.  And  when  so  many  of 
them  had  driven  forward  that  they  filled  the 
whole  sky,  it  appeared  as  though  someone 
had  given  a  signal,  for  all  at  once,  water  com- 
menced to  pour  down  over  the  earth,  from 
utensils,  barrels,  bottles  and  sacks. 

Just  as  the  first  spring-showers  pattered 
against  the  ground,  there  arose  such  shouts  of 
joy  from  all  the  small  birds  in  groves  and 
pastures,  that  the  whole  air  rang  with  them 
and  the  boy  leaped  high  where  he  sat.  "  Now 
we'll  have  rain.  Rain  gives  us  spring;  spring 
gives  us  flowers  and  green  leaves ;  green  leaves 
and  flowers  give  us  worms  and  insects ;  worms 
and  insects  give  us  food;  and  plentiful,  and 
good  food  is  the  best  thing  there  is,"  sang  the 
birds. 

The  wild  geese,  too,  were  glad  of  the  rain 
which  came  to  awaken  the  growing  things  from 
their  long  sleep,  and  to  drive  holes  in  the 
ice- roofs  on  the  lakes.  They  were  not  able 
to  keep  up  that  seriousness  any  longer, 
but  began  to  send  merry  calls  over  the 
neighbourhood. 


i6o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

When  they  flew  over  the  big  potato  patches, 
which  are  so  plentiful  in  the  country  around 
Christianstad — and  which  still  lay  bare  and 
black — they  screamed :  "  Wake  up  and  be  use- 
ful !  Here  comes  something  that  will  awaken 
you.     You  have  idled  long  enough  now." 

When  they  saw  people  who  hurried  to  get 
out  of  the  rain,  they  reproved  them  saying: 
"What  are  you  in  such  a  hurry  about?  Can't 
you  see  that  it's  raining  rye-loaves  and 
cookies?" 

It  was  a  big,  thick  mist  that  moved  north- 
ward briskly,  and  followed  close  upon  the 
geese.  They  seemed  to  think  that  they 
dragged  the  mist  along  with  them;  and,  just 
now,  when  they  saw  great  orchards  beneath 
them,  they  called  out  proudly:  "Here  we 
come  with  anemones;  here  we  come  with 
roses ;  here  we  come  with  apple  blossoms  and 
cherry  buds;  here  we  come  with  peas  and 
beans  and  turnips  and  cabbages.  He  who 
wills  can  take  them.  He  who  wills  can 
take  them." 

Thus  it  had  sounded  while  the  first  showers 
fell,  and  when  all  were  still  glad  of  the  rain. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  i6i 

But  when  it  continued  to  fall  the  whole  after- 
noon, the  wild  geese  grew  impatient,  and  cried 
to  the  thirsty  forests  around  Ivos  lake: 
"  Haven't  you  got  enough  yet?  Haven't  you 
got  enough  yet?" 

The  heavens  were  growing  grayer  and  grayer 
and  the  sun  hid  itself  so  well  that  one  couldn't 
imagine  where  it  was.  The  rain  fell  faster 
and  faster,  and  beat  harder  and  harder 
against  the  wings,  as  it  tried  to  find  its  way 
between  the  oily  outside  feathers,  into  their 
skins.  The  earth  was  hidden  by  fogs;  lakes, 
mountains,  and  woods  floated  together  in  an 
indistinct  maze,  and  the  landmarks  could  not 
be  distinguished.  The  flight  became  slower 
and  slower ;  the  joyful  cries  were  hushed ;  and 
the  boy  felt  the  cold  more  and  more  keenly. 

But  still  he  had  kept  up  his  courage  as  long 
as  he  had  ridden  through  the  air.  And  in 
the  afternoon,  when  they  had  lighted  under 
a  little  stunted  pine,  in  the  middle  of  a  large 
morass,  where  all  was  wet,  and  all  was  cold; 
where  some  knolls  were  covered  with  snow, 
and  others  stood  up  naked  in  a  puddle  of  half- 
melted  ice-water,  even  then,  he  had  not  felt 


i62  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

discouraged,  but  ran  about  in  fine  spirits,  and 
hunted  for  cranberries  and  frozen  whortle- 
berries. But  then  came  evening,  and  dark- 
ness sank  down  on  them  so  close,  that  not 
even  such  eyes  as  the  boy's  could  see  through 
it;  and  all  the  wilderness  became  so  strangely 
grim  and  awful.  The  boy  lay  tucked  in  under 
the  goosey-gander's  wing,  but  could  not 
sleep  because  he  was  cold  and  wet.  He 
heard  such  a  lot  of  rustling  and  rattling  and 
stealthy  steps  and  menacing  voices,  that  he 
was  terror-stricken  and  didn't  know  where  he 
should  go.  He  must  go  somewhere,  where 
there  was  light  and  heat,  if  he  wasn't  going 
to  be  entirely  scared  to  death. 

"  If  I  should  venture  where  there  are  human 
beings,  just  for  this  night?"  thought  the 
boy.  "Only  so  I  could  sit  by  a  fire  for  a 
moment,  and  get  a  little  food.  I  could  go 
back  to  the  wild  geese  before  sunrise." 

He  crept  from  under  the  wing  and  slid 
down  to  the  ground.  He  didn't  awaken 
either  the  goosey-gander  or  any  of  the  other 
geese,  but  stole,  silently  and  unobserved, 
through  the  morass. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS         163 

He  didn't  know  exactly  where  on  earth 
he  was:  if  he  was  in  Sk§,ne,  in  Sm§,land,  or 
in  Blekinge.  But  just  before  he  had  gotten 
down  in  the  morass,  he  had  caught  a  glimpse 
of  a  large  village,  and  thither  he  directed  his 
steps.  It  wasn't  long,  either,  before  he 
discovered  a  road;  and  soon  he  was  on  the 
village  street,  which  was  long,  and  had  planted 
trees  on  both  sides,  and  was  bordered  with 
garden  after  garden. 

The  boy  had  come  to  one  of  the  big  cathedral 
towns,  which  are  so  common  on  the  uplands, 
but  can  hardly  be  seen  at  all  down  in  the 
plain. 

The  houses  were  of  wood,  and  very 
prettily  constructed.  Most  of  them  had  gables 
and  fronts,  edged  with  carved  mouldings, 
and  glass  doors,  with  here  and  there  a 
coloured  pane,  opening  on  verandas.  The 
walls  were  painted  in  light  oil-colours;  the 
doors  and  window-frames  shone  in  blues  and 
greens,  and  even  in  reds.  While  the  boy 
walked  about  and  viewed  the  houses,  he  could 
hear,  all  the  way  out  to  the  road,  how 
the  people  who  sat  in  the  warm  cottages 


i64  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

chattered  and  laughed.  The  words  he  could 
not  distinguish,  but  he  thought  it  was 
just  lovely  to  hear  human  voices.  "  I  wonder 
what  they  would  say  if  I  knocked  and  begged 
to  be  let  in,"  thought  he. 

This  was,  of  course,  what  he  had  intended 
to  do  all  along,  but  now  that  he  saw  the 
lighted  windows,  his  fear  of  the  darkness  was 
gone.  Instead,  he  felt  again  that  shyness 
which  always  came  over  him  now  when  he 
was  near  human  beings.  'Til  take  a  look 
around  the  town  for  a  while  longer,"  thought 
he,  "before  I  ask  anyone  to  take  me  in." 

On  one  house  there  was  a  balcony.  And 
just  as  the  boy  walked  by,  the  doors  were 
thrown  open,  and  a  yellow  light  streamed 
through  the  fine,  sheer  curtains.  Then  a 
pretty  young  fru  came  out  on  the  balcony 
and  leaned  over  the  railing.  "It's  raining; 
now  we  shall  soon  have  spring,"  said  she. 
When  the  boy  saw  her  he  felt  a  strange 
anxiety.  It  was  as  though  he  wanted  to 
weep.  For  the  first  time  he  was  a  bit  uneasy 
because  he  had  shut  himself  out  from  the 
human  kind. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  165 

Shortly  after  that  he  walked  by  a  shop. 
Outside  the  shop  stood  a  red  corn-drill.  He 
stopped  and  looked  at  it;  and  finally  crawled 
up  to  the  driver's  place,  and  seated  himself. 
When  he  had  got  there,  he  smacked  with 
his  lips  and  pretended  that  he  sat  and  drove. 
He  thought  what  fun  it  would  be  to  be 
permitted  to  drive  such  a  pretty  machine 
over  a  grainfield.  For  a  moment  he  for- 
got what  he  was  like  now ;  then  he  remem- 
bered it,  and  jumped  down  quickly  from  the 
machine.  Then  a  greater  unrest  came  over 
him.  After  all,  human  beings  were  very 
wonderful  and  clever. 

He  walked  by  the  post-office,  and  then  he 
thought  of  all  the  neswpapers  which  came 
every  day,  with  news  from  all  the  four  comers 
of  the  earth.  He  saw  the  apothecary's  shop 
and  the  doctor's  home,  and  he  thought  about 
the  power  of  human  beings,  which  was  so 
great  that  they  were  able  to  battle  with  sick- 
ness and  death.  He  came  to  the  church. 
Then  he  thought  how  human  beings  had 
built  it,  that  they  might  hear  about  another 
world  than  the  one  in  which  they  lived;  of 

/ 


1 66  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

God  and  the  resurrection  and  eternal  life. 
And  the  longer  he  walked  there,  the  better 
he  liked  human  beings. 

It  is  so  with  children  that  they  never  think 
any  farther  ahead  than  the  length  of  their 
noses.  That  which  lies  nearest  them,  they 
want  promptly,  without  caring  what  it  may 
cost  them.  Nils  Holgersson  had  not  under- 
stood what  he  was  losing  when  he  chose  to 
remain  an  elf;  but  now  he  began  to  be 
dreadfully  afraid  that,  perhaps,  he  should 
never  again  get  back  his  right  form. 

How  in  all  the  world  should  he  go  to  work 
in  order  to  become  human?  This  he  wanted, 
oh!  so  much,  to  know. 

He  crawled  up  on  a  doorstep,  and  seated 
himself  in  the  pouring  rain  and  meditated. 
He  sat  there  one  whole  hour — two  whole 
hours,  and  he  thought  so  hard  that  his  fore- 
head lay  in  furrows;  but  he  was  none  the 
wiser.  It  seemed  as  though  the  thoughts 
only  rolled  round  and  round  in  his  head. 
The  longer  he  sat  there,  the  more  impossible 
it  seemed  to  him  to  find  any  solution. 

"This  thing  is  certainly  much  too  difficult 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  167 

for  one  who  has  learned  as  little  as  I  have," 
he  thought  at  last.  "It  will  probably  wind 
up  by  my  having  to  go  back  among  human 
beings  after  all.  I  must  ask  the  minister  and 
the  doctor  and  the  schoolmaster  and  others 
who  are  learned,  and  may  know  a  cure  for 
such  things." 

This  he  concluded  that  he  would  do  at 
once,  and  shook  himself — for  he  was  as  wet 
as  a  dog  that  has  been  in  a  water-pool. 

Just  about  then  he  saw  that  a  big  owl 
came  flying  along,  and  alighted  on  one  of  the 
trees  that  bordered  the  village  street.  The 
next  instant  a  lady  owl,  who  sat  under  the 
cornice  of  the  house,  began  to  call  out: 
"Kivitt,  Kivitt!  Are  you  at  home  again, 
Mr.  Gray  Owl?  What  kind  of  a  time  did  you 
have  abroad?" 

"Thank  you,  Lady  Brown  Owl.  I  had  a 
very  comfortable  time,"  said  the  gray  owl. 
"Has  anything  out  of  the  ordinary  happened 
here  at  home  during  my  absence?" 

"Not  here  in  Blekinge,  Mr.  Gray  Owl;  but 
in  Skane  a  marvellous  thing  has  happened! 
A  boy  has  been  transformed  by  an  elf  into  a 


i68  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

goblin  no  bigger  than  a  squirrel;  and  since 
then  he  has  gone  to  Lappland  with  a  tame 
goose." 

"That's  a  remarkable  bit  of  news,  a 
remarkable  bit  of  news.  Can  he  never  be 
himian  again,  Lady  Brown  Owl?  Can  he 
never  be  human  again?" 

"That's  a  secret,  Mr.  Gray  Owl;  but  you 
shall  hear  it  just  the  same.  The  elf  has  said 
that  if  the  boy  watches  over  the  goosey- 
gander,  so  that  he  comes  home  safe  and  sound, 
and " 

"What  more,  Lady  Brown  Owl?  What 
more?     What  more?" 

"  Fly  with  me  up  to  the  church  tower,  Mr. 
Gray  Owl,  and  you  shall  hear  the  whole 
story !  I  fear  there  may  be  someone  listening 
down  here  in  the  street."  With  that,  the 
owls  flew  their  way;  but  the  boy  fiimg  his 
cap  in  the  air,  and  shouted:  "If  I  only 
watch  over  the  goosey-gander,  so  that  he 
gets  back  safe  and  sound,  then  I  shall 
become  a  human  being  again,  Hurrah! 
Hurrah!  Then  I  shall  become  a  human 
being  again!" 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


169 


He  shouted  "hurrah"  until  it  was  strange 
that  they  did  not  hear  him  in  the  houses — 
but  they  didn't,  and  he  hurried  back  to  the 
wild  geese,  out  in  the  wet  morass,  as  fast 
as  his  legs  could  carry  him. 


VII 

THE  STAIRWAY  WITH  THE  THREE 

STEPS 

Thursday,  March  thirty-first. 

THE  following  day  the  wild  geese  in- 
tended to  travel  northward  through 
Allbo  district,  in  Sm§,land.  They  sent  Iksi 
and  Kaksi  to  spy  out  the  land.  But  when 
they  returned,  they  said  that  all  the  water 
was  frozen,  and  all  the  land  was  snow-covered. 
"We  may  as  well  remain  where  we  are,"  said 
the  wild  geese.  "We  cannot  travel  over  a 
country  where  there  is  neither  water  nor  food." 
"  If  we  remain  where  we  are,  we  may  have  to 
wait  here  until  the  next  moon,"  said  Akka. 
"  It  is  better  to  go  eastward,  through  Blekinge, 
and  see  if  we  can't  get  to  Sm§,land  by  way  of 
More,  which  lies  near  the  coast,  and  has  an 
early  spring." 

Thus  the  boy  came  to  ride  over  Blekinge 

the  next  day.     Now,  that  it  was  light  again, 

Z70 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  171 

he  was  in  a  merry  mood  once  more,  and  could 
not  comprehend  what  had  come  over  him  the 
night  before.  He  certainly  didn't  want  to 
give  up  the  journey  and  the  outdoor  life  now. 

There  lay  a  thick  fog  over  Blekinge.  The 
boy  couldn't  see  how  it  looked  out  there. 
"I  wonder  if  it  is  a  good,  or  a  poor  country 
that  I'm  riding  over,"  thought  he,  and  tried 
to  search  his  memory  for  the  things  which  he 
had  heard  about  the  country  at  school.  But 
at  the  same  time  he  knew  well  enough  that 
this  was  useless,  as  he  had  never  been  in  the 
habit  of  studying  his  lessons. 

At  once  the  boy  saw  the  whole  school  before 
him.  The  children  sat  by  the  little  desks  and 
raised  their  hands;  the  teacher  sat  in  the 
lectern  and  looked  displeased ;  and  he  himself 
stood  before  the  map  and  should  answer  some 
question  about  Blekinge,  but  he  hadn't  a 
word  to  say.  The  schoolmaster's  face  grew 
darker  and  darker  for  every  second  that 
passed,  and  the  boy  thought  the  teacher  was 
more  particular  that  they  should  know  their 
geography,  than  anything  else.  Now  he 
came  down  from  the  lectern,  took  the  pointer 


172  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

from  the  boy,  and  sent  him  back  to  his  seat. 
"This  won't  end  well,"  the  boy  thought  then. 

But  the  schoolmaster  had  gone  over  to  a 
window,  and  had  stood  there  for  a  moment 
and  looked  out,  and  then  he  had  whistled  to 
himself  once.  Then  he  had  gone  up  into  the 
lectern  and  said  that  he  would  tell  them  some- 
thing about  Blekinge.  And  that  which  he 
then  talked  about  had  been  so  amusing  that 
the  boy  had  listened.  When  he  only  stopped 
and  thought  for  a  moment,  he  remembered 
every  word. 

"Smaland  is  a  tall  house  with  spruce  trees 
on  the  roof,"  said  the  teacher,  "and  leading  up 
to  it  is  a  broad  stairway  with  three  big  steps ; 
and  this  stairway  is  called  Blekinge.  It  is 
a  stairway  that  is  well  constructed.  It 
stretches  forty-two  miles  along  the  frontage 
of  Smaland  house,  and  anyone  who  wishes  to 
go  all  the  way  down  to  the  East  sea,  by 
way  of  the  stairs,  has  twenty-four  miles  to 
wander. 

"A  good  long  time  must  have  elapsed  since 
the  stairway  was  built.  Both  days  and  years 
have  gone  by  since  the  steps  were  hewn  from 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  173 

gray  stones  and  laid  down — evenly  and 
smoothly — ^for  a  convenient  track  between 
Smaland  and  the  East  sea. 

"Since  the  stairway  is  so  old,  one  can,  of 
course,  understand  that  it  doesn't  look  just 
the  same  now,  as  it  did  when  it  was  new.  I 
don't  know  how  much  they  troubled  them- 
selves about  such  matters  at  that  time;  but 
big  as  it  was,  no  broom  could  have  kept  it 
clean.  After  a  couple  of  years,  moss  and 
lichen  began  to  grow  on  it.  In  the  autumn 
dry  leaves  and  dry  grass  blew  down  over  it; 
and  in  the  spring  it  was  piled  up  with  falling 
stones  and  gravel.  And  as  all  these  things 
were  left  there  to  mould,  they  finally  gathered 
so  much  soil  on  the  steps  that  not  only  herbs 
and  grass,  but  even  bushes  and  trees  could 
take  root  there. 

"But,  at  the  same  time,  a  great  disparity 
has  arisen  between  the  three  steps.  The 
topmost  step,  which  lies  nearest  Smaland, 
is  mostly  covered  with  poor  soil  and  small 
stones,  and  no  trees  except  birches  and  bird- 
cherry  and  spruce — ^which  can  stand  the  cold 
on  the  heights,  and  are  satisfied  with  little — 


174  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

can  thrive  up  there.  One  understands  best 
how  poor  and  dry  it  is  there,  when  one  sees 
how  small  the  field-plots  are,  that  are  ploughed 
up  from  the  forest  lands ;  and  how  many  little 
cabins  the  people  build  for  themselves;  and 
how  far  it  is  between  the  churches.  But  on 
the  middle  step  there  is  better  soil,  and  it 
does  not  lie  bound  down  under  such  severe 
cold,  either.  This  one  can  see  at  a  glance, 
since  the  trees  are  both  higher  and  of  finer 
quality.  There  you'll  find  maple  and  oak  and 
linden  and  weeping-birch  and  hazel  trees 
growing,  but  no  cone-trees  to  speak  of.  And 
it  is  still  more  noticeable  because  of  the 
amount  of  cultivated  land  that  you  will  find 
there;  and  also  because  the  people  have  built 
themselves  great  and  beautiful  houses.  On 
the  middle  step,  there  are  many  churches, 
with  large  towns  around  them;  and  in  every 
way  it  makes  a  better  and  finer  appearance 
than  the  top  step. 

"  But  the  very  lowest  step  is  the  best  of  all. 
It  is  covered  with  good  rich  soil;  and,  where 
it  lies  and  bathes  in  the  sea,  it  hasn't  the 
slightest  feeling  of  the  SmMand  chill.  Beeches 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  175 

and  chestnut  and  walnut  trees  thrive  down 
here;  and  they  grow  so  big  that  they  tower 
above  the  church-roofs.  Here  He  also  the 
largest  grain-fields;  but  the  people  have  not 
only  timber  and  farming  to  live  upon,  but 
they  are  also  occupied  with  fishing  and  trading 
and  seafaring.  For  this  reason  you  will  find 
the  most  costly  residences  and  the  prettiest 
churches  here;  and  the  parishes  have  devel- 
oped into  villages  and  cities. 

"  But  this  is  not  all  that  is  said  of  the  three 
steps.  For  one  must  realise  that  when  it 
rains  on  the  roof  of  the  big  Smaland  house,  or 
when  the  snow  melts  up  there,  the  water  has 
to  go  somewhere;  and  then,  naturally,  a  lot 
of  it  is  spilled  over  the  big  stairway.  In  the 
beginning  it  probably  oozed  over  the  whole 
stairway,  big  as  it  was ;  then  cracks  appeared 
in  it,  and,  gradually,  the  water  has  accustomed 
itself  to  flow  alongside  of  it,  in  well  dug-out 
grooves.  And  water  is  water,  whatever  one 
does  with  it.  It  never  has  any  rest.  In  one 
place  it  cuts  and  files  away,  and  in  another 
it  adds  to.  Those  grooves  it  has  dug  into 
vales,  and  the  walls  of  the  vales  it  has  decked 


176  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

with  soil ;  and  bushes  and  trees  and  vines  have 
clung  to  them  ever  since — so  thick,  and  in  such 
profusion,  that  they  almost  hide  the  stream  of 
water  that  winds  its  way  down  there  in  the 
deep.  But  when  the  streams  come  to  the 
landings  between  the  steps,  they  throw  them- 
selves headlong  over  them;  this  is  why  the 
water  comes  with  such  a  seething  rush,  that 
it  gathers  strength  with  which  to  move  mill- 
wheels  and  machinery — ^these,  too,  have 
sprung  up  by  every  waterfall. 

"  But  this  does  not  tell  all  that  is  said  of  the 
land  with  the  three  steps.  It  must  also  be 
told  that  up  in  the  big  house  in  Sm§.land 
there  lived  once  upon  a  time  a  giant,  who  had 
grown  very  old.  And  it  fatigued  him  in  his 
extreme  age,  to  be  forced  to  walk  down  that 
long  stairway  in  order  to  catch  salmon  from 
the  sea.  To  him  it  seemed  much  more  suit- 
able that  the  salmon  should  come  up  to  him, 
where  he  lived. 

"Therefore,  he  went  up  on  the  roof  of  his 
great  house;  and  there  he  stood  and  threw 
stones  down  into  the  East  sea.  He  threw 
them  with  such  force  that  they  flew  over  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  177 

whole  of  Blekinge  and  dropped  into  the  sea. 
And  when  the  stones  came  down,  the  salmon 
got  so  scared  that  they  came  up  from  the  sea 
and  fled  toward  the  Blekinge  streams;  ran 
through  the  rapids ;  flung  themselves  with  high 
leaps  over  the  waterfalls,  and  stopped. 

"  How  true  this  is,  one  can  see  by  the  num- 
ber of  islands  and  points  that  lie  along  the 
coast  of  Blekinge,  and  which  are  nothing  in 
the  world  but  the  big  stones  that  the  giant 
threw. 

"One  can  also  tell  because  the  salmon 
always  go  up  in  the  Blekinge  streams  and 
work  their  way  up  through  rapids  and  still 
water,  all  the  way  to  Smaland. 

"That  giant  is  worthy  of  great  thanks  and 
much  honour  from  the  Blekinge  people;  for 
salmon  in  the  streams,  and  stone-cutting  on 
the  island — that  means  work  which  gives  food 
to  many  of  them  even  to  this  day." 


VIII 

BY  RONNEBY  RIVER 

Friday,  April  first. 

NEITHER  the  wild  geese  nor  Smirre  Fox 
had  believed  that  they  should  ever  run 
across  each  other  after  they  had  left  Skine. 
But  now  it  turned  out  so  that  the  wild  geese 
happened  to  take  the  route  over  Blekinge  and 
thither  Smirre  Fox  had  also  gone. 

So  far  he  had  kept  himself  in  the  northern 
parts  of  the  province ;  and  since  he  had  not  as 
yet  seen  any  manor  parks,  or  hunting  grounds 
filled  with  game  and  dainty  young  deer,  he 
was  more  disgruntled  than  he  could  say. 

One  afternoon,  when  Smirre  tramped  around 
in  the  desolate  forest  district  of  Mellanbygden, 
not  far  from  Ronneby  River,  he  saw  a 
flock  of  wild  geese  fly  through  the  air. 
Instantly  he  observed  that  one  of  the  geese 
was  white  and  then  he  knew,  of  course, 
with  whom  he  had  to  deal. 

X78 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  179 

Smirre  began  immediately  to  hunt  the  geese 
— ^just  as  much  for  the  pleasure  of  getting  a 
good  square  meal,  as  for  the  desire  to  be 
avenged  for  all  the  humiliation  that  they  had 
heaped  upon  him.  He  saw  that  they  fiew 
eastward  until  they  came  to  Ronneby  River. 
Then  they  changed  their  course,  and  followed 
the  river  toward  the  south.  He  understood 
that  they  intended  to  seek  a  sleeping-place 
along  the  river-bank,  and  he  thought  that 
he  should  be  able  to  get  hold  of  a  pair  of  them 
without  much  trouble.  But  when  Smirre 
finally  discovered  the  place  where  the  wild 
geese  had  taken  refuge,  he  observed  they 
had  chosen  such  a  well-protected  spot,  that  he 
couldn't  get  near  them. 

Ronneby  River  isn't  any  big  or  important 
body  of  water ;  nevertheless,  it  is  just  as  much 
talked  of,  for  the  sake  of  its  pretty  shores. 
At  several  points  it  forces  its  way  forward 
between  steep  mountain-walls  that  stand 
upright  out  of  the  water,  and  are  entirely 
overgrown  with  honeysuckle  and  bird-cherry, 
mountain-ash  and  osier;  and  there  isn't 
much  that  can  be  more  delightful  than  to 


i8o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

row  out  on  the  little  dark  river  on  a  pleasant 
summer  day,  and  look  upward  on  all  the 
soft  green  that  fastens  itself  to  the  rugged 
mountain-sides. 

But  now,  when  the  wild  geese  and  Smirre 
came  to  the  river,  it  was  cold  and  blustery 
spring-winter;  all  the  trees  were  nude,  and 
there  was  probably  no  one  who  thought  the 
least  little  bit  about  whether  the  shore  was 
ugly  or  pretty.  The  wild  geese  thanked  their 
good  fortune  that  they  had  found  a  sand- 
strip  large  enough  for  them  to  stand  upon, 
on  a  steep  mountain  wall.  In  front  of  them 
rushed  the  river,  which  was  strong  and 
violent  in  the  snow-melting  time;  behind 
them  they  had  an  impassable  mountain  rock 
wall,  and  overhanging  branches  screened 
them.     They  couldn't  have  it  better. 

The  geese  were  asleep  instantly;  but  the 
boy  couldn't  get  a  wink  of  sleep.  As  soon  as 
the  sun  had  disappeared  he  was  seized  with  a 
fear  of  the  darkness,  and  a  wilderness-terror, 
and  he  longed  for  human  beings.  Where 
he  lay — ^tucked  in  under  the  goose-wing — ^he 
could  see  nothing,  and  only  hear  a  little;  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  i8i 

he  thought  if  any  harm  came  to  the  goosey- 
gander,  he  couldn't  save  him. 

Noises  and  rusthngs  were  heard  from  all 
directions,  and  he  grew  so  uneasy  that  he  had 
to  creep  from  under  the  wing  and  seat  himself 
on  the  ground,  beside  the  goose. 

Long-sighted  Smirre  stood  on  the  moun- 
tain's summit  and  looked  down  upon  the  wild 
geese.  "You  may  as  well  give  this  pursuit 
up  first  as  last,"  he  said  to  himself.  "You 
can't  climb  such  a  steep  mountain;  you  can't 
swim  in  such  a  wild  torrent;  and  there  isn't 
the  tiniest  strip  of  land  below  the  mountain 
which  leads  to  the  sleeping-place.  Those 
geese  are  too  wise  for  you.  Don't  ever  bother 
yourself  again  to  hunt  them!" 

But  Smirre,  like  all  foxes,  had  found  it  hard 
to  give  up  an  undertaking  already  begun, 
and  so  he  lay  down  on  the  extremest  point  of 
the  mountain  edge,  and  did  not  take  his  eyes 
off  the  wild  geese.  While  he  lay  and 
watched  them,  he  thought  of  all  the  harm 
they  had  done  him.  Yes,  it  was  their  fault 
that  he  had  been  driven  from  Sk^ne,  and  had 
been    obliged   to    move   to    poverty-stricken 


i82  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Blekinge.  He  worked  himself  up  to  such  a 
pitch,  as  he  lay  there,  that  he  wished  the 
wild  geese  were  dead,  even  if  he,  himself 
should  not  have  the  satisfaction  of  eating 
them. 

When  Smirre's  resentment  had  reached 
this  height,  he  heard  rasping  in  a  large  pine 
that  grew  close  to  him,  and  saw  a  squirrel 
come  down  from  the  tree,  hotly  pursued  by 
a  marten.  Neither  of  them  noticed  Smirre; 
and  he  sat  quietly  and  watched  the  chase, 
which  went  from  tree  to  tree.  He  looked 
at  the  squirrel,  who  moved  among  the  branches 
as  lightly  as  though  he'd  been  able  to  fly.  He 
looked  at  the  marten,  who  was  not  as  skilled 
at  climbing  as  the  squirrel,  but  who  still  ran 
up  and  along  the  branches  just  as  securely 
as  if  they  had  been  even  paths  in  the  forest. 
"If  I  could  only  climb  half  as  well  as  either 
of  them,"  thought  the  fox,  "those  things  down 
there  wouldn't  sleep  in  peace  very  long!" 

As  soon  as  the  squirrel  had  been  captured, 
and  the  chase  was  at  an  end,  Smirre  walked 
over  to  the  marten,  but  stopped  two  steps 
away  from  him,  to  signify  that  he  did  not 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS         183 

wish  to  cheat  him  of  his  prey.  He  greeted  the 
marten  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  and  wished 
him  good  luck  with  his  catch.  Smirre  chose 
his  words  well — as  foxes  always  do.  The 
marten,  on  the  contrary,  who,  with  his  long 
and  slender  body,  his  fine  head,  his  soft  skin, 
and  his  light  brown  neck-piece,  looked  like 
a  little  marvel  of  beauty — ^but  in  reality  was 
nothing  but  a  crude  forest  dweller — hardly 
answered  him.  "It  surprises  me,"  said 
Smirre,  "that  such  a  fine  hunter  as  you  are 
should  be  satisfied  with  chasing  squirrels 
when  there  is  much  better  game  within  reach." 
Here  he  paused;  but  when  the  marten  only 
grinned  impudently  at  him,  he  continued: 
"Can  it  be  possible  that  you  haven't  seen  the 
wild  geese  that  stand  under  the  mountain 
wall?  or  are  you  not  a  good  enough  climber 
to  get  down  to  them?" 

This  time  he  had  no  need  to  wait  for  an 
answer.  The  marten  rushed  up  to  him  with 
back  bent,  and  every  separate  hair  on  end. 
"Have  you  seen  wild  geese?"  he  hissed. 
"Where  are  they?  Tell  me  instantly,  or 
I'll   bite   your  neck   off!"     "No!  you   must 


i84  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

remember  that  I'm  twice  your  size — so  be 
a  little  polite.  I  ask  nothing  better  than  to 
show  you  the  wild  geese." 

The  next  instant  the  marten  was  on  his 
way  down  the  steep;  and  while  Smirre  sat 
and  watched  how  he  swung  his  snake-like 
body  from  branch  to  branch,  he  thought: 
"That  pretty  tree-hunter  has  the  wickedest 
heart  in  all  the  forest.  I  believe  that  the  wild 
geese  will  have  me  to  thank  for  a  bloody 
awakening." 

But  just  as  Smirre  was  waiting  to  hear  the 
geese's  death-rattle,  he  saw  the  marten  tumble 
from  branch  to  branch — and  plump  into  the 
river  so  the  water  splashed  high.  Soon 
thereafter,  wings  beat  loudly  and  strongly  and 
all  the  geese  went  up  in  a  hurried  flight. 

Smirre  intended  to  hurry  after  the  geese, 
but  he  was  so  curious  to  know  how  they  had 
been  saved,  that  he  sat  there  until  the  marten 
came  clambering  up.  That  poor  thing  was 
soaked  in  mud,  and  stopped  every  now  and 
then  to  rub  his  head  with  his  forepaws. 
"Now  wasn't  that  just  what  I  thought — 
that  you  were  a  booby,  and  would  go  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  185 

tumble  into  the  river?"  said  Smirre,  con- 
temptuously. 

"  I  haven't  acted  boobyishly.  You  don't 
need  to  scold  me,"  said  the  marten.  "I  sat 
— all  ready — on  one  of  the  lowest  branches 
and  thought  how  I  should  manage  to  tear  a 
whole  lot  of  geese  to  pieces,  when  a  little 
creature,  no  bigger  than  a  squirrel,  jumped 
up  and  threw  a  stone  at  my  head  with  such 
force,  that  I  fell  into  the  water;  and  before  I 
had  time  to  pick  myself  up " 

The  marten  didn't  have  to  say  any  more. 
He  had  no  audience.  Smirre  was  already  a 
long  way  off  in  pursuit  of  the  wild  geese. 

In  the  meantime  Akka  had  flown  south- 
ward in  search  of  a  new  sleeping-place. 
There  was  still  a  little  daylight;  and,  beside, 
the  half-moon  stood  high  in  the  heavens,  so 
that  she  could  see  a  little.  Luckily,  she  was 
well  acquainted  in  these  parts,  because  it  had 
happened  more  than  once  that  she  had  been 
wind-driven  to  Blekinge  when  she  travelled 
over  the  East  sea  in  the  spring. 

She  followed  the  river  as  long  as  she  saw 
it  winding  through   the   moon-lit   landscape 


i86  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

like  a  black,  shining  snake.  In  this  way  she 
came  way  down  to  Djupafors — ^where  the 
river  first  hides  itself  in  an  underground 
channel — ^and  then  clear  and  transparent, 
as  though  it  were  made  of  glass,  rushes 
down  in  a  narrow  cleft,  and  breaks  into  bits 
against  its  bottom  in  glittering  drops  and 
flying  foam.  Below  the  white  falls  lay  a 
few  stones,  between  which  the  water  rushed 
away  in  a  wild  torrent  cataract.  Here 
mother  Akka  alighted.  This  was  another 
good  sleeping-place — especially  this  late  in 
the  evening,  when  no  human  beings  moved 
about.  At  sunset  the  geese  would  hardly 
have  been  able  to  camp  there,  for  Djupafors 
does  not  lie  in  any  wilderness.  On  one  side 
of  the  falls  is  a  paper  factory;  on  the  other — 
which  is  steep,  and  tree-grown — is  Djupadal's 
park,  where  people  are  always  strolling  about 
on  the  steep  and  slippery  paths  to  enjoy 
the  wild  stream's  rushing  movement  down 
in  the  ravine. 

It  was  about  the  same  here  as  at  the  for- 
mer place;  none  of  the  travellers  thought  the 
least  little  bit  that  they  had  come  to  a  pretty 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  187 

and  well-known  place.  They  thought  rather 
that  it  was  ghastly  and  dangerous  to  stand 
and  sleep  on  slippery,  wet  stones,  in  the 
middle  of  a  rumbling  waterfall.  But  they 
had  to  be  content,  if  only  they  were  protected 
from  carnivorous  animals. 

The  geese  fell  asleep  instantly,  while  the  boy 
could  find  no  rest  in  sleep,  but  sat  beside 
them  that  he  might  watch  over  the  goosey- 
gander. 

After  a  while,  Smirre  came  running  along 
the  river-shore.  He  spied  the  geese  imme- 
diately where  they  stood  out  in  the  foam- 
ing whirlpools,  and  understood  that  he 
couldn't  get  at  them  here,  either.  Still  he 
couldn't  make  up  his  mind  to  abandon  them, 
but  seated  himself  on  the  shore  and  looked 
at  them.  He  felt  very  much  humbled,  and 
thought  that  his  entire  reputation  as  a 
hunter  was  at  stake. 

All  of  a  sudden,  he  saw  an  otter  come  creep- 
ing up  from  the  falls  with  a  fish  in  his  mouth. 
Smirre  approached  him  but  stopped  within 
two  steps  of  him,  to  show  him  that  he  didn't 
wish  to  take  his  game  from  him. 


i88  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"  You're  a  remarkable  one,  who  can  content 
yourself  with  catching  a  fish,  while  the  stones 
are  covered  with  geese ! "  said  Smirre.  He  was 
so  eager,  that  he  hadn't  taken  the  time  to 
arrange  his  words  as  carefully  as  he  was  wont 
to  do.  The  otter  didn't  turn  his  head  once 
in  the  direction  of  the  river.  He  was  a  vaga- 
bond— ^like  all  otters — and  had  fished  many 
times  by  Vomb  Lake,  and  probably  knew 
Smirre  Fox.  "  I  know  very  well  how  you  act 
when  you  want  to  coax  away  a  salmon-trout, 
Smirre,"  said  he. 

"Oh!  is  it  you,  Gripe?"  said  Smirre,  and 
was  delighted ;  for  he  knew  that  this  partic- 
ular otter  was  a  quick  and  accomplished 
swimmer.  "I  don't  wonder  that  you  do  not 
care  to  look  at  the  wild  geese,  since  you  can't 
manage  to  get  out  to  them."  But  the  otter, 
who  had  swimming- webs  between  his  toes, 
and  a  stiff  tail — which  was  as  good  as  an  oar — 
and  a  skin  that  was  water-proof,  didn't  wish 
to  have  it  said  of  him  that  there  was  a  water- 
fall that  he  wasn't  able  to  manage.  He  turned 
toward  the  stream ;  and  as  soon  as  he  caught 
-^ight  of  the  wild  geese,  he  threw  the  fish  away. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS         189 

and  rushed  down  the  steep  shore  and  into 
the  river. 

If  it  had  been  a  little  later  in  the  spring, 
so  that  the  nightingales  in  Djupafors  had 
been  at  home,  they  would  have  sung  for  many 
a  day,  of  Gripe's  struggle  with  the  rapid.  For 
the  otter  was  thrust  back  by  the  waves  many 
times,  and  carried  down  river;  but  he  fought 
his  way  steadily  up  again.  He  swam  forward 
in  still  water;  he  crawled  over  stones,  and 
gradually  came  nearer  the  wild  geese.  It  was 
a  perilous  trip,  which  might  well  have  earned 
the  right  to  be  sung  by  the  nightingales. 

Smirre  followed  the  otter's  course  with  his 
eyes  as  well  as  he  could.  At  last  he  saw  that 
the  otter  was  in  the  act  of  climbing  up  to  the 
wild  geese.  But  just  then  it  shrieked  shrill 
and  wild.  The  otter  tumbled  backward  into 
the  water,  and  dashed  away  as  if  he  had  been 
a  blind  kitten.  An  instant  later,  there  was 
a  great  crackling  of  geese's  wings.  They 
raised  themselves  and  flew  away  to  find 
another  sleeping-place. 

The  otter  soon  came  on  land.  He  said 
nothing,  but  commenced  to  lick  one  of  his 


iQO  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

forepaws.  When  Smirre  sneered  at  him 
because  he  hadn't  succeeded,  he  broke  out :  "It 
was  not  the  fault  of  my  swimming-art,  Smirre. 
I  had  raced  all  the  way  over  to  the  geese,  and 
was  about  to  climb  up  to  them,  when  a  tiny 
creature  came  running,  and  jabbed  me  in  the 
foot  with  some  sharp  iron.  It  hurt  so,  I  lost 
my  footing,  and  then  the  current  took  me." 

He  didn't  have  to  say  any  more.  Smirre 
was  already  far  away  on  his  way  to  the  wild 
geese. 

Once  again  Akka  and  her  flock  had  to  take 
a  night  fly.  Fortunately,  the  moon  had  not 
gone  down;  and  with  the  aid  of  its  light,  she 
succeeded  in  finding  another  of  those  sleeping- 
places  which  she  knew  in  that  neighbourhood. 
Again  she  followed  the  shining  river  toward 
the  south.  Over  Djupadal's  manor,  and  over 
Ronneby's  dark  roofs  and  white  waterfalls 
she  swayed  forward  without  alighting.  But 
a  little  south  of  the  city  and  not  far  from  the 
sea,  lies  Ronneby  health-spring,  with  its 
bath  house  and  spring  house;  with  its  big 
hotel  and  summer  cottages  for  the  Spring's 
guests.     All  these  stand  empty  and  desolate 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  191 

in  winter — which  the  birds  know  perfectly 
well;  and  many  are  the  bird-companies  who 
seek  shelter  on  the  deserted  buildings'  balus- 
trades and  balconies  during  hard  storm-times. 

Here  the  wild  geese  lit  on  a  balcony,  and, 
as  usual,  they  fell  asleep  at  once.  The  boy, 
on  the  contrary,  could  not  sleep  because  he 
hadn't  cared  to  creep  in  under  the  goosey- 
gander's  wing. 

The  balcony  faced  south,  so  the  boy  had 
an  outlook  over  the  sea.  And  since  he  could 
not  sleep,  he  sat  there  and  saw  how  pretty  it 
looked  when  sea  and  land  meet,  here  in 
Blekinge. 

You  see  that  sea  and  land  can  meet  in  many 
different  ways.  In  many  places  the  land 
comes  down  toward  the  sea  with  flat,  tufted 
meadows,  and  the  sea  meets  the  land  with 
flying  sand,  which  piles  up  in  mounds  and 
drifts.  It  appears  as  though  they  both  dis- 
liked each  other  so  much  that  they  only 
wished  to  show  the  poorest  they  possessed. 
But  it  can  also  happen  that,  when  the  land 
comes  toward  the  sea,  it  raises  a  wall  of  hills 
in    front    of     it — as    though    the    sea    were 


192  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

something  dangerous.  When  the  land  does 
this,  the  sea  comes  up  to  it  with  fiery 
wrath,  and  beats  and  roars  and  lashes  against 
the  rocks,  and  looks  as  if  it  would  tear  the 
land-hill  to  pieces. 

But  in  Blekinge  it  is  altogether  different 
when  sea  and  land  meet.  There  the  land 
breaks  itself  up  into  points  and  islands  and 
islets ;  and  the  sea  divides  itself  into  fiords  and 
bays  and  sounds;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  this 
which  makes  it  look  as  if  they  must  meet  in 
happiness  and  harmony. 

Think  now  first  and  foremost  of  the  sea! 
Far  out  it  lies  desolate  and  empty  and  big, 
and  has  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  roll  its  gray 
billows.  When  it  comes  toward  the  land,  it 
happens  across  the  first  obstacle.  This  it 
immediately  overpowers;  tears  away  every- 
thing green,  and  makes  it  as  gray  as  itself. 
Then  it  meets  still  another  obstacle.  With 
this  it  does  the  same  thing.  And  still  another. 
Yes,  the  same  thing  happens  to  this  also.  It 
is  stripped  and  plundered,  as  if  it  had  fallen 
into  robbers'  hands.  Then  the  obstacles  come 
nearer  and  nearer  together,  and  then  the  sea 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  193 

must  understand  that  the  land  sends  toward 
it  her  Httlest  children,  in  order  to  move  it  to 
pity.  It  also  becomes  more  friendly  the 
farther  in  it  comes;  rolls  its  waves  less  high; 
moderates  its  storms;  lets  the  green  things 
stay  in  cracks  and  crevices;  separates  itself 
into  small  sounds  and  inlets,  and  becomes  at 
last  so  harmless  in  the  land,  that  little  boats 
dare  venture  out  on  it.  It  certainly  cannot 
recognise  itself — so  mild  and  friendly  has  it 
grown. 

And  then  think  of  the  hillside!  It  lies 
uniform,  and  looks  the  same  almost  every- 
where. It  consists  of  flat  grain-fields,  with  one 
and  another  birch-grove  between  them ;  or  else 
of  long  stretches  of  forest  ranges.  It  appears 
as  if  it  had  thought  about  nothing  but  grain 
and  turnips  and  potatoes  and  spruce  and  pine. 
Then  comes  a  sea-fiord  that  cuts  far  into  it. 
It  doesn't  mind  that,  but  borders  it  with  birch 
and  alder,  just  as  if  it  was  an  ordinary  fresh- 
water lake.  Then  still  another  wave  comes 
driving  in.  Nor  does  the  hillside  bother 
itself  about  cringing  to  this,  but  it,  too,  gets  the 
same  covering  as  the  first  one.     Then  the 


194  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

fiords  begin  to  broaden  and  separate,  they 
break  up  fields  and  woods  and  then  the  hill- 
side cannot  help  but  notice  them.  "  I  believe 
it  is  the  sea  itself  that  is  coming,"  says  the 
hillside,  and  then  it  begins  to  adorn  itself. 
It  wreathes  itself  with  blossoms,  travels  up 
and  down  in  hills  and  throws  islands  into 
the  sea.  It  no  longer  cares  about  pines  and 
spruces,  but  casts  them  off  like  old  every  day 
clothes,  and  parades  later  with  big  oaks  and 
lindens  and  chestnuts,  and  with  blossoming 
leafy  bowers,  and  becomes  as  gorgeous  as  a 
manor-park.  And  w^hen  it  meets  the  sea,  it 
is  so  changed  that  it  doesn't  know  itself.  All 
this  one  cannot  see  very  well  until  summer- 
time; but,  at  any  rate,  the  boy  observed  how 
mild  and  friendly  nature  was;  and  he  began 
to  feel  calmer  than  he  had  been  before,  that 
night.  Then,  suddenly,  he  heard  a  sharp 
and  ugly  yowl  from  the  bath-house  park ;  and 
when  he  stood  up  he  saw,  in  the  white  moon- 
light, a  fox  standing  on  the  pavement  under 
the  balcony.  For  Smirre  had  followed  the 
wild  geese  once  more.  But  when  he  had 
found  the  place  where  they  were  quartered,  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


195 


had  understood  that  it  was  impossible  to  get 
at  them  in  any  way;  then  he  had  not  been 
able  to  keep  from  yowling  with  chagrin. 

When  the  fox  yowled  in  this  manner,  old 
Akka,  the  leader-goose  was  awakened. 
Although  she  could  see  nothing,  she  thought 
she  recognised  the  voice.  "  Is  it  you  who  are  out 
to-night,  Smirre  ?"  said  she.  "  Yes, ' '  said  Smirre, 
"it  is  I;  and  I  want  to  ask  what  you  geese 
think  of  the  night  that  I  have  given  you?" 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  it  is  you  who  have 
sent  the  marten  and  otter  against  us?"  asked 
Akka.  "A  good  turn  shouldn't  be  denied," 
said  Smirre.  "You  once  plaved  the  goose- 
game  with  me,  now  I  have  begun  to  play  the 
fox-game  with  you;  and  I'm  not  inclined  to 
let  up  on  it  so  long  as  a  single  one  of  you  still 
lives  even  if  I  have  to  follow  you  the  world 
over ! " 

"You,  Smirre,  ought  at  least  to  think 
whether  it  is  right  for  you,  who  are  weaponed 
with  both  teeth  and  claws,  to  hound  us  in  this 
way;  we,  who  are  without  defence,"  said  Akka. 

Smirre  thought  that  Akka  sounded  scared, 
and  he  said  quickly:  "If  you,  Akka,  will  take 


196  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

that  Thumbietot — ^who  has  so  often  opposed 
me — and  throw  him  down  to  me,  I'll  promise 
to  make  peace  with  you.  Then  I'll  never  more 
pursue  you  or  any  of  yours."  "I'm  not 
going  to  give  you  Thumbietot,"  said  Akka. 
"From  the  youngest  of  us  to  the  oldest,  we 
would  willingly  give  our  lives  for  his  sake!" 
"Since  you're  so  fond  of  him,"  said  Smirre, 
"I'll  promise  you  that  he  shall  be  the  first 
among  you  that  I  will  wreak  vengeance  upon." 
Akka  said  no  more,  and  after  Smirre  had 
sent  up  a  few  more  yowls,  all  was  still.  The 
boy  lay  all  the  while  awake.  Now  it  was 
Akka's  words  to  the  fox  that  prevented  him 
from  sleeping.  Never  had  he  dreamed  that 
he  should  hear  anything  so  great  as  that  any- 
one was  willing  to  risk  life  for  his  sake.  From 
that  moment,  it  could  no  longer  be  said  of 
Nils  Holgersson  that  he  did  not  care  for 
anyone. 


IX 

KARLSKRONA 

Saturday,  April  third. 

IT  WAS  a  moonlight  evening  in  Karls- 
krona — calm  and  beautiful.  But  earlier 
in  the  day,  there  had  been  rain  and 
wind;  and  the  people  must  have  thought 
that  the  bad  weather  still  continued,  for 
hardly  one  of  them  had  venttired  out  on 
the  streets. 

While  the  city  lay  there  so  desolate,  Akka,  the 
wild  goose,  and  her  flock,  came  nymg  toward 
it  over  Vemmon  and  Pantarholmen.  They 
were  out  in  the  late  evening  to  seek  a  sleeping- 
place  on  the  islands.  They  couldn't  remain 
inland  because  they  were  disturbed  by  Smirre 
Fox  wherever  they  lighted. 

When  the  boy  rode  along  high  up  in  the 

air,   and  looked  at   the  sea  and   the  islands 

which    spread    themselves    before    him,    he 

thought  that  everything  appeared  so  strange 

197 


iqS       adventures  of  nils 

and  spook-like.  The  heavens  were  no  longer 
blue,  but  encased  him  like  a  globe  of  green  glass. 
The  sea  was  milk-white,  and  as  far  as  he  could 
see  rolled  small  white  waves  tipped  with 
silver  ripples.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  white 
lay  numerous  little  islets,  absolutely  coal 
black.  Whether  they  were  big  or  little, 
whether  they  were  as  even  as  meadows,  or 
full  of  cliffs  they  looked  just  as  black.  Even 
dwelling  houses  and  churches  and  windmills, 
which  at  other  times  are  white  or  red,  were 
outlined  in  black  against  the  green  sky.  The 
boy  thought  it  was  as  if  the  earth  had  been 
transformed,  and  he  was  come  to  another  world. 
He  thought  that  just  for  this  one  night  he 
wanted  to  be  brave,  and  not  afraid — ^when 
he  saw  something  that  really  frightened 
him.  It  was  a  high  cliff  island,  which 
was  covered  with  big,  angular  blocks;  and 
between  the  blocks  shone  specks  of  bright, 
shining  gold.  He  couldn't  keep  from  think- 
ing of  Maglestone,  by  Trolle-Ljungby,  which 
the  trolls  sometimes  raised  upon  high  gold 
pillars;  and  he  wondered  if  this  was  some- 
thing like  that. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  199 

But  with  the  stones  and  the  gold  it  might 
have  gone  fairly  well,  if  such  a  lot  of  horrid 
things  had  not  been  lying  all  around  the 
island.  It  looked  like  whales  and  sharks  and 
other  big  sea-monsters.  But  the  boy  under- 
stood that  it  was  the  sea- trolls,  who  had 
gathered  around  the  island  and  intended  to 
crawl  up  on  it,  to  fight  with  the  land-trolls 
who  lived  there.  And  those  on  the  land  were 
probably  afraid,  for  he  saw  how  a  big  giant 
stood  on  the  highest  point  of  the  island  and 
raised  his  arms — ^as  if  in  despair  over  all  the 
misfortune  that  should  come  to  him  and 
his  island. 

The  boy  was  not  a  little  terrified  when  he 
noticed  that  Akka  began  to  descend  right 
over  that  particular  island!  "No,  for  pity's 
sake!  We  must  not  light  there,"  said  he. 

But  the  geese  continued  to  descend,  and 
soon  the  boy  was  astonished  that  he  could 
have  seen  things  so  awry.  In  the  first  place, 
the  big  stone  blocks  were  nothing  but  houses. 
The  whole  island  was  a  city;  and  the  shining 
gold  specks  were  street  lamps  and  lighted 
window-panes.     The  giant,  who  stood  highest 


200  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

up  on  the  island,  and  raised  his  arms,  was  a 
church  with  two  cross-towers;  all  the  sea- 
trolls  and  monsters,  which  he  thought  he  had 
seen,  were  boats  and  ships  of  every  descrip- 
tion, that  lay  anchored  all  around  the  island. 
On  the  side  which  lay  toward  the  land  were 
mostly  row-boats  and  sail-boats  and  small 
coast  steamers;  but  on  the  side  that  faced 
the  sea  lay  armour-clad  battleships;  some 
were  broad,  with  very  thick,  slanting  smoke- 
stacks; others  were  long  and  narrow,  and  so 
constructed  that  they  could  glide  through  the 
water  like  fishes. 

Now  what  city  might  this  be?  That,  the  boy 
could  figure  out  because  he  saw  all  the  battle- 
ships. All  his  life  he  had  loved  ships,  although 
he  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  any,  except 
the  galleys  which  he  had  sailed  in  the  road 
ditches.  He  knew  very  well  that  this  city — 
where  so  many  battleships  lay — couldn't  be 
any  place  but  Karlskrona. 

The  boy's  grandfather  had  been  an  old 
marine;  and  as  long  as  he  had  lived,  he  had 
talked  of  Karlskrona  every  day;  of  the  great 
warship  dock,  and  of  all  the  other  things  to  be 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


20I 


seen  in  that  city.  The  boy  felt  perfectly  at 
home,  and  he  was  glad  that  he  should  see  all 
this  of  which  he  had  heard  so  much. 

But  he  only  had  a  glimpse  of  the  towers  and 
fortifications  which  barred  the  entrance  to 
the  harbour,  and  the  many  buildings,  and  the 
shipyard— before  Akka  came  down  on  one 
of   the   flat   church- towers. 

This  was  a  pretty  safe  place  for  those  who 
wanted  to  get  away  from  a  fox,  and  the  boy 
began  to  wonder  if  he  couldn't  venture  to 
crawl  in  under  the  goosey-gander's  wing  for 
this  one  night.  Yes,  that  he  might  safely  do. 
It  would  do  him  good  to  get  a  little  sleep. 
He  should  try  to  see  a  little  more  of  the  dock 
and  the  ships  after  it  had  grown  light. 

The  boy  himself  thought  it  was  strange  that 
he  could  keep  still  and  wait  until  the  next 
morning  to  see  the  ships.  He  certainly  had 
not  slept  five  minutes  before  he  slipped  out 
from  under  the  wing  and  slid  down  the 
lightning-rod  and  the  water-spout  all  the 
way  down  to  the  ground. 

Soon  he  stood  on  a  big  square  which  spread 
itself  in  front  of  the  church.     It  was  covered 


202  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

with  round  stones,  and  was  just  as  difficult 
for  him  to  travel  over,  as  it  is  for  big  people  to 
walk  on  a  tufted  meadow.  Those  who  are 
accustomed  to  live  in  the  open — or  way  out 
in  the  country — always  feel  uneasy  when 
they  come  into  a  city,  where  the  houses  stand 
straight  and  forbidding,  and  the  streets  are 
open,  so  that  everyone  can  see  who  goes  there. 
And  it  happened  in  the  same  way  with  the  boy. 
When  he  stood  on  the  big  Karlskrona  square, 
and  looked  at  the  German  church,  and  town 
hall,  and  the  cathedral  from  which  he  had 
just  descended  he  couldn't  do  anything  but 
wish  that  he  was  back  on  the  tower  again  with 
the  geese. 

It  was  a  lucky  thing  that  the  square  was 
entirely  deserted.  There  wasn't  a  human 
being  about — unless  he  counted  a  statue  that 
stood  on  a  high  pedestal.  The  boy  gazed  long 
at  the  statue,  which  represented  a  big, 
brawny  man  in  a  three-cornered  hat,  long 
waistcoat,  knee-breeches  and  coarse  shoes, 
and  wondered  what  kind  of  a  one  he  was.  He 
held  a  long  stick  in  his  hand,  and  he  looked  as 
if  he  would  know  how  to  make  use  of  it,  too — 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  203 

for  he  had  an  awfully  severe  countenance, 
with  a  big,  hooked  nose  and  an  ugly  mouth. 

"What  is  that  long-lipped  thing  doing 
here?"  said  the  boy  at  last.  He  had  never 
felt  so  small  and  insignificant  as  he  did  that 
night.  He  tried  to  jolly  himself  up  a  bit  by 
saying  something  audacious.  Then  he  thought 
no  more  about  the  statue,  but  betook  him- 
self to  a  wide  street  which  led  down  to  the  sea. 

But  the  boy  hadn't  gone  far  before  he  heard 
that  someone  was  following  him.  Someone 
was  walking  behind  him,  who  stamped  on  the 
stone  pavement  with  heavy  footsteps,  and 
pounded  on  the  ground  with  a  hard  stick. 
It  sounded  as  if  the  bronze  man  up  in  the 
square  had  gone  out  for  a  promenade. 

The  boy  listened  after  the  steps,  while  he 
ran  down  the  street,  and  he  became  more  and 
more  convinced  that  it  was  the  bronze  man. 
The  ground  trembled,  and  the  houses  shook. 
It  couldn't  be  anyone  but  he,  who  walked  so 
heavily,  and  the  boy  grew  panic-stricken 
when  he  thought  of  what  he  had  just  said  to 
him.  He  did  not  dare  to  turn  his  head  to 
find  out  if  it  really  was  he. 


204  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"  Perhaps  he  is  only  out  walking  for  recrea- 
tion," thought  the  boy.  "Surely  he  can't 
be  offended  with  me  for  the  words  I  spoke. 
They  were  not  at  all  badly  meant." 

Instead  of  going  straight  on,  and  trying  to 
get  down  to  the  dock,  the  boy  turned  into  a 
side  street  which  led  east.  First  and  fore- 
most, he  wanted  to  get  away  from  the  one  who 
tramped  after  him. 

But  the  next  instant  he  heard  that  the 
bronze  man  had  switched  off  to  the  same 
street;  and  then  the  boy  was  so  scared  that 
he  didn't  know  what  he  would  do  with  him- 
self. And  how  hard  it  was  to  find  any  hiding 
places  in  a  city  where  all  the  gates  were  closed ! 
Then  he  saw  on  his  right  an  old  frame 
church,  which  lay  a  short  distance  away  from 
the  street  in  the  centre  of  a  large  grove. 
Not  an  instant  did  he  pause  to  consider,  but 
rushed  on  toward  the  church.  "  If  I  can  only 
get  there,  then  I'll  surely  be  shielded  from  all 
harm,"  thought  he. 

As  he  ran  forward,  he  suddenly  caught 
sight  of  a  man  who  stood  on  a  gravel  path 
and  beckoned  to  him.     "There  is  certainly 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  205 

someone  who  will  help  me!"  thought  the  boy; 
he  became  intensely  happy,  and  hurried  off  in 
that  direction.  He  was  actually  so  frightened 
that  the  heart  of  him  fairly  thvimped  in  his 
breast. 

But  when  he  came  up  to  the  man  who 
stood  on  the  edge  of  the  gravel  path,  upon  a 
low  pedestal,  he  was  absolutely  thunder- 
struck. "Surely,  it  can't  have  been  that  one 
who  beckoned  to  me!"  thought  he;  for  he 
saw  that  the  entire  man  was  made  of  wood. 

He  stood  there  and  stared  at  him.  He 
was  a  thick-set  man  on  short  legs,  with  a 
broad,  ruddy  countenance,  shiny,  black  hair 
and  full  black  beard.  On  his  head  he  wore 
a  wooden  hat;  on  his  body,  a  brown  wooden 
coat ;  around  his  waist,  a  black  wooden  belt ; 
on  his  legs  he  had  wide  wooden  knee-breeches 
and  wooden  stockings;  and  on  his  feet  black 
wooden  shoes.  He  was  newly  painted  and 
newly  varnished,  so  that  he  glistened  and 
shone  in  the  moonlight.  This  undoubtedly 
had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  giving  him  such  a 
good-natured  appearance,  that  the  boy  at 
once  placed  confidence  in  him. 


2o6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

In  his  left  hand  he  held  a  wooden  slate,  and 
there  the  boy  read: 

Most  humbly  I  beg  you, 
Though  voice  I  may  lack: 

Come  drop  a  penny,  do; 
But  lift  my  hat! 

Oh  ho!  the  man  was  only  a  poor-box.  The 
boy  felt  that  he  had  been  done.  He  had 
expected  that  this  should  be  something 
really  remarkable.  And  now  he  remembered 
that  grandpa  had  also  spoken  of  the  wooden 
man,  and  said  that  all  the  children  in  Karls- 
krona  were  so  fond  of  him.  And  that  must 
have  been  true,  for  he,  too,  found  it  hard  to 
part  with  the  wooden  man.  He  had  some- 
thing so  old-timy  about  him,  that  one  could 
well  take  him  to  be  many  hundred  years  old; 
and  at  the  same  time,  he  looked  so  strong 
and  bold,  and  animated — ^just  as  one  might 
imagine  that  folks  looked  in  olden  times. 
The  boy  had  so  much  fun  looking  at  the 
wooden  man,  that  he  entirely  forgot  the 
one  from  whom  he  was  fleeing.  But  now 
he  heard  him.     He  turned  from  the  street  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  207 

came  into  the  churchyard.  He  followed  him 
here  too!     Where  should  the  boy  go? 

Just  then  he  saw  the  wooden  man  bend 
down  to  him  and  stretch  forth  his  big,  broad 
hand.  It  was  impossible  to  believe  anything 
but  good  of  him ;  and  with  one  jump,  the  boy 
stood  in  his  hand.  The  wooden  man  lifted 
him  to  his  hat — and  stuck  him  under  it. 

The  boy  was  just  hidden,  and  the  wooden 
man  had  just  gotten  his  arm  in  its  right  place 
again,  when  the  bronze  man  stopped  in  front 
of  him  and  banged  the  stick  on  the  ground, 
so  that  the  wooden  man  shook  on  his  pedestal. 
Thereupon  the  bronze  man  said  in  a  strong 
and  resonant  voice :  ' '  Who  might  this  one  be  ? " 

The  wooden  man's  arm  went  up,  so  that  it 
creaked  in  the  old  woodwork,  and  he  touched 
his  hat-brim  as  he  replied;  "Rosenbom,  by 
Your  Majesty's  leave.  Once  upon  a  time  boat- 
swain on  the  man-of-war,  Dristigheten;  after 
completed  service,  sexton  at  the  Admiral's 
church — and,  lately,  carved  in  wood  and 
exhibited  in  the  churchyard  as  a  poor-box." 

The  boy  gave  a  start  when  he  heard  that 
the  wooden  man  said  "Your  Majesty."     For 


2o8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

now,  when  he  thought  about  it,  he  knew  that 
the  statue  on  the  square  represented  the  one 
who  had  founded  the  city.  It  was  probably 
no  less  an  one  than  Charles  the  Eleventh 
himself,  whom  he  had  encountered. 

"He  gives  a  good  account  of  himself," 
said  the  bronze  man.  "Can  he  also  tell  me 
if  he  has  seen  a  little  brat  who  runs  around  in 
the  city  to-night?  He's  an  impudent  rascal, 
if  I  get  hold  of  him,  I'll  teach  him  manners!" 
With  that,  he  again  pounded  on  the  ground 
with  his  stick,  and  looked  fearfully  angry. 

"  By  Your  Majesty's  leave,  I  have  seen  him," 
said  the  wooden  man;  and  the  boy  was  so 
scared  that  he  commenced  to  shake  where 
he  sat  under  the  hat  and  looked  at  the  bronze 
man  through  a  crack  in  the  wood.  But  he 
calmed  down  when  the  wooden  man  continued : 
"  Your  Majesty  is  on  the  wrong  track.  That 
youngster  certainly  intended  to  run  into  the 
shipyard,  and  conceal  himself  there." 

"Does  he  say  so,  Rosenbom?  Well  then, 
don't  stand  still  on  the  pedestal  any  longer 
but  come  with  me  and  help  me  find  him. 
Four  eyes  are  better  than  two,  Rosenbom." 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  209 

But  the  wooden  man  answered  in  a  doleful 
voice:  "I  would  most  humbly  beg  to  be 
permitted  to  stay  where  I  am.  I  look  well 
and  sleek  because  of  the  paint,  but  I'm  old 
and  mouldy,  and  cannot  stand  moving  about." 

The  bronze  man  was  not  one  of  those  who 
liked  to  be  contradicted.  "What  sort  of 
notions  are  these?  Come  along,  Rosenbom!" 
Then  he  raised  his  stick  and  gave  the  other 
one  a  resounding  whack  on  the  shoulder. 
"  Does  Rosenbom  not  see  that  he  holds 
together?" 

With  that  they  broke  off  and  walked 
forward  on  the  streets  of  Karlskrona — large 
and  mighty — until  they  came  to  a  high  gate, 
which  led  to  the  shipyard.  Just  outside 
and  on  guard  walked  one  of  the  navy's  jack- 
tars,  but  the  bronze  man  strutted  past  him 
and  kicked  the  gate  open  without  the  jack- 
tar's  pretending  to  notice  it. 

As  soon  as  they  had  gotten  into  the  ship- 
yard, they  saw  before  them  a  wide,  expansive 
harbour  separated  by  pile-bridges.  In  the 
different  harbour  basins,  lay  the  warships, 
which  looked  bigger,  and  more  awe-inspiring 


2IO  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

close  to,  like  this,  than  lately,  when  the  boy 
had  seen  them  from  up  above.  "Then  it 
wasn't  so  crazy  after  all,  to  imagine  that  they 
were  sea- trolls,"  thought  he. 

"Where  does  Rosenbom  think  it  most 
advisable  for  us  to  begin  the  search?"  said 
the  bronze  man. 

"Such  an  one  as  he,  could  most  easily  con- 
ceal himself  in  the  hall  of  models,"  replied 
the  wooden  man. 

On  a  narrow  land-strip  which  stretched  to 
the  right  from  the  gate,  all  along  the  har- 
bour, lay  ancient  structures.  The  bronze 
man  walked  over  to  a  building  with  low  walls, 
small  windows,  and  a  conspicuous  roof.  He 
pounded  on  the  door  with  his  stick  until  it 
burst  open ;  and  tramped  up  a  pair  of  worn-out 
steps.  Soon  they  came  into  a  large  hall, 
which  was  filled  with  tackled  and  full-rigged 
little  ships.  The  boy  understood  without 
being  told,  that  these  were  models  for  the 
ships  which  had  been  built  for  the  Swedish 
navy. 

There  were  ships  of  many  different  varieties. 
There    were    old    men-of-war,    whose    sides 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  211 

bristled  with  cannon,  and  which  had  high 
structures  fore  and  aft,  and  their  masts 
weighed  down  with  a  network  of  sails  and 
ropes.  There  were  small  island-boats  with 
rowing-benches  along  the  sides;  there  were 
undecked  cannon  sloops  and  richly  gilded 
frigates,  which  were  models  of  the  ones  the 
kings  had  used  on  their  travels.  Finally, 
there  were  also  the  heavy,  broad  armour- 
plated  ships  with  towers  and  cannon  on 
deck — such  as  are  in  use  nowadays ;  and  nar- 
row, shining  torpedo  boats  which  resembled 
long,  slender  fishes. 

When  the  boy  was  carried  around  among 
all  this,  he  was  awed.  *' Fancy  that  such 
big,  splendid  ships  have  been  built  here  in 
Sweden ! "  he  thought  to  himself. 

He  had  plenty  of  time  to  see  all  that  was 
to  be  seen  in  there;  for  when  the  bronze  man 
saw  the  models,  he  forgot  everything  else. 
He  examined  them  all,  from  the  first  to  the 
last,  and  asked  about  them.  And  Rosenbom, 
the  boatswain  on  the  Dristigheten,  told  as 
much  as  he  knew  of  the  ships'  builders,  and 
of  those  who  had  manned  them;  and  of  the 


212  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

fates  they  had  met.  He  told  them  about 
Chapman  and  Puke  and  TroUe;  of  Hoagland 
and  Svensksund — all  the  way  along  until 
1809 — after  that  he  had  not  been  there. 

Both  he  and  the  bronze  man  had  the  most 
to  say  about  the  fine  old  wooden  ships.  The 
new  battleships  they  didn't  exactly  appear 
to  understand. 

"  I  can  hear  that  Rosenbom  doesn't  know 
anything  about  these  new-fangled  things," 
said  the  bronze  man.  "Therefore,  let  us  go 
and  look  at  something  else;  for  this  amuses 
me,  Rosenbom." 

By  this  time  he  had  entirely  given  up  his 
search  for  the  boy,  who  felt  calm  and  secure 
where  he  sat  in  the  wooden  hat. 

Thereupon  both  men  wandered  through 
the  big  establishment :  sail-making  shops, 
anchor  smithy,  machine  and  carpenter  shops. 
They  saw  the  mast  sheers  and  the  docks,; 
the  large  magazines,  the  arsenal,  the  rope- 
bridge  and  the  big  discarded  dock,  which 
had  been  blasted  in  the  rock.  They  went  out 
upon  the  pile-bridges,  where  the  naval  vessels 
lay  moored,  stepped  on  board  and  examined 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  213 

them  like  two  old  sea-dogs ;  wondered ;  disap- 
proved; approved;  and  became  indignant. 

The  boy  sat  in  safety  under  the  wooden 
hat,  and  heard  all  about  how  they  had 
laboured  and  struggled  in  this  place,  to  equip 
the  navies  which  had  gone  out  from  here. 
He  heard  how  life  and  blood  had  been  risked ; 
how  the  last  penny  had  been  sacrificed  to 
build  the  warships;  how  skilled  men  had 
strained  all  their  powers,  in  order  to  perfect 
these  ships  which  had  been  their  father- 
land's safeguard.  A  couple  of  times  the 
tears  came  to  the  boy's  eyes,  as  he  heard  all 
this. 

And  the  very  last,  they  went  into  an  open 
court,  where  the  galley  models  of  old  men-of- 
war  were  grouped;  and  a  more  remarkable 
sight  the  boy  had  never  beheld;  for  these 
models  had  inconceivably  powerful  and  terror- 
striking  faces.  They  were  big,  fearless  and 
savage:  filled  with  the  same  proud  spirit 
that  had  fitted  out  the  great  ships.  They 
were  from  another  time  than  his.  He  thought 
that  he  shrivelled  up  before  them. 

But  when  they  came  in  here,  the  bronze 


214  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

man  said  to  the  wooden  man:  "Take  off  thy 
hat,  Rosenbom,  for  those  that  stand  here! 
They  have  all  fought  for  the  fatherland." 

And  Rosenbom — like  the  bronze  man — 
had  forgotten  why  they  had  begun  this 
tramp.  Without  thinking,  he  lifted  the 
wooden  hat  from  his  head  and  shouted : 

"  I  take  off  my  hat  to  the  one  who  chose 
the  harbour  and  founded  the  shipyard  and 
re-created  the  navy ;  to  the  monarch  who  has 
awakened  all  this  into  life!" 

"Thanks,  Rosenbom!  That  was  well 
spoken.  Rosenbom  is  a  fine  man.  But  what 
is  this,  Rosenbom?" 

For  there  stood  Nils  Holgersson,  right  on 
the  top  of  Rosenbom 's  bald  pate.  He  wasn't 
afraid  any  longer;  but  raised  his  white  tobog- 
gan hood,  and  shouted:  "Hurrah  for  you, 
Longlip ! ' ' 

The  bronze  man  struck  the  ground  hard 
with  his  stick;  but  the  boy  never  learned 
what  he  had  intended  to  do  for  now  the  sun 
ran  up,  and,  at  the  same  time,  both  the 
bronze  man  and  the  wooden  man  vanished — 
as  if  they  had  been  made  of  mists.     While  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  215 

still  stood  and  stared  after  them,  the  wild 
geese  flew  up  from  the  church  tower,  and 
swayed  back  and  forth  over  the  city.  In- 
stantly they  caught  sight  of  Nils  Holgersson ; 
and  then  the  big  white  one  darted  down 
from  the  sky  and  fetched  him. 


X 

THE  TRIP  TO  OLAND 

Sunday,  April  third. 

THE  wild  geese  went  out  on  a  wooded 
island  to  feed.  There  they  happened 
to  run  across  a  few  gray  geese,  who  were  sur- 
prised to  see  them — since  they  knew  very 
well  that  their  kinsmen,  the  wild  geese, 
usually  travel  over  the  interior  of  the  country. 
They  were  curious  and  inquisitive,  and 
wouldn't  be  satisfied  with  less  than  that  the 
wild  geese  should  tell  them  all  about  the  per- 
secution which  they  had  to  endure  from  Smirre 
Fox.  When  they  had  finished,  a  gray  goose, 
who  appeared  to  be  as  old  and  as  wise  as 
Akka  herself,  said:  "It  was  a  great  mis- 
fortune for  you  that  Smirre  Fox  was  declared 
an  outlaw  in  his  own  land.  He'll  be  sure  to 
keep  his  word,  and  follow  you  all  the  way  up 
to  Lappland.  If  I  were  in  your  place,  I 
shouldn't    travel   north    over    Smaland,    but 

2l6 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


217 


would  take  the  outside  route  over  Oland 
instead,  so  that  he'll  be  thrown  off  the  track 
entirely.  To  really  mislead  him,  you  must 
remain  for  a  couple  of  days  on  Gland's 
southern  point.  There  you'll  find  lots  of 
food  and  lots  of  company.  I  don't  believe 
you'll  regret  it,  if  you  go  over  there." 

It  was  certainly  very  sensible  advice,  and 
the  wild  geese  concluded  to  follow  it.  As 
soon  as  they  had  eaten  all  they  could  hold, 
they  started  on  the  trip  to  Oland.  None  of 
them  had  ever  been  there  before,  but  the 
gray  goose  had  given  them  excellent  direc- 
tions. They  only  had  to  travel  direct  south 
until  they  came  to  a  large  bird-track,  which 
extended  all  along  the  Blekinge  coast.  All 
the  birds  who  had  winter  residences  by  the 
West  sea,  and  who  now  intended  to  travel  to 
Finland  and  Russia,  flew  forward  there — 
and,  in  passing,  they  were  always  in  the  habit 
of  stopping  at  Oland  to  rest.  The  wild 
geese  would  have  no  trouble  in  finding  guides. 

That  day  it  was  perfectly  still  and  warm 
— like  a  summer's  day — the  best  weather 
in  the  world  for  a  sea  trip.     The  only  grave 


3l8 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


thing  about  it  was  that  it  was  not  quite  clear, 
for  the  sky  was  gray  and  veiled.  Here  and 
there  were  enormous  mist-clouds  which 
hung  way  down  to  the  sea's  outer  edge,  and 
obstructed  the  view. 

When  the  travellers  had  gotten  away 
from  the  wooded  island,  the  sea  spread  itself 
so  smooth  and  mirror-like,  that  the  boy  as 
he  looked  down  thought  the  water  had 
disappeared.  There  was  no  longer  any  earth 
under  him.  He  had  nothing  but  mist  and 
sky  around  him.  He  grew  very  dizzy,  and 
held  himself  tight  on  the  goose-back,  more 
frightened  than  when  he  sat  there  for  the  first 
time.  It  seemed  as  though  he  couldn't 
possibly  hold  on;  he  must  fall  in  some 
direction. 

It  was  even  worse  when  they  reached  the 
big  bird-track,  of  which  the  gray  goose  had 
spoken.  Actually,  there  came  flock  after 
flock  flying  in  exactly  the  same  direction. 
They  seemed  to  follow  a  fixed  route.  There 
were  ducks  and  gray  geese,  surf -scoters  and 
guillemots,  loons  and  pin-tail  ducks  and 
mergansers   and   grebes   and   oyster-catchers 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  219 

and  sea-grouse.  But  now,  when  the  boy 
leaned  forward,  and  looked  in  the  direction 
where  the  sea  ought  to  lie,  he  saw  the  whole 
bird  procession  reflected  in  the  water.  But 
he  was  so  dizzy  that  he  didn't  understand 
how  this  had  come  about:  he  thought  that 
the  whole  bird  procession  flew  with  their 
bellies  upside  down.  Still  he  didn't  wonder 
at  this  so  much,  for  he  did  not  himself  know 
which  was  up,  and  which  was  down. 

The  birds  were  tired  out  and  impatient  to 
get  on.  None  of  them  shrieked  or  said  a 
funny  thing,  and  this  made  everything  seem 
peculiarly  unreal. 

"Think,  if  we  have  travelled  away  from 
the  earth!"  he  said  to  himself.  "Think,  if 
we  are  on  our  way  up  to  heaven ! " 

He  saw  nothing  but  mists  and  birds  around 
him,  and  began  to  look  upon  it  as  reasonable 
that  they  were  travelling  heavenward.  He 
was  glad,  and  wondered  what  he  should  see 
up  there.  The  dizziness  passed  all  at  once. 
He  was  so  exceedingly  happy  at  the  thought 
that  he  was  on  his  way  to  heaven  and  was 
leaving  this  earth. 


220        ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Just  about  then  he  heard  a  couple  of  loud 
shots,  and  saw  two  white  smoke-columns 
ascend. 

There  was  a  sudden  awakening,  and  an 
unrest  among  the  birds.  "Hunters !  Hunters ! ' ' 
they  cried.     "Fly  high!     Fly  away!" 

Then  the  boy  saw,  finally,  that  they  were 
travelling  all  the  while  over  the  sea-coast, 
and  that  they  certainly  were  not  in  heaven. 
In  a  long  row  lay  small  boats  filled  with 
hunters,  who  fired  shot  upon  shot.  The 
nearest  bird-flocks  hadn't  noticed  them  in 
time.  They  had  flown  too  low.  Several 
dark  bodies  sank  down  toward  the  sea;  and 
for  everyone  that  fell,  there  arose  cries  of 
anguish  from  the  living. 

It  was  strange  for  one  who  had  but  lately 
believed  himself  in  heaven,  to  wake  up 
suddenly  to  such  fear  and  lamentation.  Akka 
shot  toward  the  heights  as  fast  as  she  could, 
and  the  flock  followed  with  the  greatest  pos- 
sible speed.  The  wild  geese  got  safely  out 
of  the  way,  but  the  boy  couldn't  get  over  his 
amazement.  "To  think  that  anyone  could 
wish  to  shoot  upon   such  as  Akka  and    Yksi 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  221 

and  Kaksi  and  the  goosey-gander  and  the 
others!  Human  beings  had  no  conception 
of  what  they  did." 

So  it  bore  on  again,  in  the  still  air,  and  every- 
thing was  as  quiet  as  heretofore — with  the 
exception  that  some  of  the  tired  birds  called 
out  every  now  and  then:  "Are  we  not  there 
soon  ?  Are  you  sure  we're  on  the  right  track  ? " 
Hereupon,  those  who  flew  in  the  centre 
answered:  "  We  are  flying  straight  to  Oland; 
straight  to  Oland." 

The  gray  geese  were  tired  out,  and  the 
loons  flew  around  them.  "Don't  be  in  such 
a  rush!"  cried  the  ducks.  "You'll  eat  up 
all  the  food  before  we  get  there."  "Oh! 
there'll  be  enough  for  both  you  and  us," 
answered  the  loons. 

Before  they  had  gotten  so  far  that  they  saw 
Oland,  there  came  a  light  wind  against  them. 
It  brought  with  it  something  that  resembled 
immense  clouds  of  white  smoke — just  as  if 
there  was  a  big  fire  somewhere. 

When  the  birds  saw  the  first  white  spiral 
haze,  they  became  uneasy  and  increased  their 
speed.      But    that    which    resembled    smoke 


222  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

blew  thicker  and  thicker,  and  at  last  it 
enveloped  them  altogether.  They  smelled  no 
smoke;  and  the  smoke  was  not  dark  and  dry, 
but  white  and  damp.  Suddenly  the  boy 
understood  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  mist. 

When  the  mist  became  so  thick  that  one 
couldn't  see  a  goose-length  ahead,  the  birds 
began  to  carry  on  like  real  lunatics.  All  these, 
who  before  had  travelled  forward  in  such 
perfect  order,  began  to  play  in  the  mist. 
They  flew  hither  and  thither,  to  entice  one 
another  astray.  "Be  careful!"  they  cried. 
"You're  only  travelling  round  and  round. 
Turn  back,  for  pity's  sake!  You'll  never 
get  to  Oland  in  this  way." 

They  all  knew  perfectly  well  where  the 
island  was,  but  they  did  their  best  to  lead 
each  other  astray.  "Look  at  those  wag- 
tails!" rang  out  in  the  mist.  "They  are 
going  back  toward  the  North  Sea!"  "Have 
a  care,  wild  geese!"  shrieked  someone  from 
another  direction.  "  If  you  continue  like 
this,  you'll  get  clear  up  to  Riigen." 

There  was,  of  course,  no  danger  that  the 
birds  who  were  accustomed  to  travel  here, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  223 

would  permit  themselves  to  be  lured  in  a 
wrong  direction.  But  the  ones  who  had  a 
hard  time  of  it  were  the  wild  geese.  The 
jesters  observed  that  they  were  uncertain  as 
to  the  way,  and  did  all  they  could  to  confuse 
them. 

"  Where  do  you  intend  to  go,  good  people? " 
called  a  swan.  He  came  right  up  to  Akka, 
and  looked  sympathetic  and  serious. 

"We  shall  travel  to  Oland;  but  we  have 
never  been  there  befort,,"  said  Akka.  She 
thought  that  this  was  a  bird  to  be  trusted. 

"It's  too  bad,"  said  the  swan.  "They 
have  lured  you  in  the  wrong  direction.  You're 
on  the  road  to  Blekinge.  Now  come  with 
me,  and  I'll  put  you  right!" 

And  so  he  flew  off  with  them ;  and  when  he 
had  taken  them  so  far  away  from  the  track 
that  they  heard  no  calls,  he  disappeared  in 
the  mist. 

They  flew  around  for  a  while  at  random. 
They  had  barely  succeeded  in  finding  the  birds 
again,  when  a  duck  approached  them.  "  It's 
best  that  you  lie  down  on  the  water  until  the 
mist  clears,"  said  the  duck.     "It  is  evident 


224  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

that  you  are  not  accustomed  to  look  out  for 
yourselves  on  journeys." 

Those  rogues  succeeded  in  making  Akka's 
head  swim.  As  near  as  the  boy  could  make 
out,  the  wild  geese  flew  round  and  round  for 
a  long  time. 

"Be  careful!  Can't  you  see  that  you  are 
flying  up  and  down?"  shouted  a  loon  as  he 
rushed  by.  The  boy  positively  clutched  the 
goosey-gander  around  the  neck.  This  was 
something  which  he  had  feared  for  a  long 
time. 

No  one  can  tell  when  they  would  have 
arrived,  if  they  hadn't  heard  a  rolling  and 
muffled  sound  in  the  distance. 

Then  Akka  craned  her  neck,  snapped  hard 
with  her  wings,  and  rushed  on  at  full  speed. 
Now  she  had  something  to  go  by.  The  gray 
goose  had  told  her  not  to  light  on  Oland's 
southern  point,  because  there  was  a  cannon 
there,  which  the  people  used  to  shoot  the 
mist  with.  Now  she  knew  the  way,  and  now 
no  one  in  the  world  should  lead  her  astray 
again. 


XI 

GLAND'S  SOUTHERN  POINT 

April  third  to  sixth. 

ON  THE  most  southerly  part  of  Oland 
lies  a  royal  demesne,  which  is  called 
Ottenby.  It  is  a  rather  large  estate  which 
extends  from  shore  to  shore,  straight  across 
the  island;  and  it  is  remarkable  because  it 
has  always  been  a  haunt  for  large  bird- 
companies.  In  the  Seventeenth  Century, 
when  the  kings  used  to  go  over  to  Oland  to 
hunt,  the  entire  estate  was  nothing  but  a  deer 
park.  In  the  Eighteenth  Century  there  was 
a  stud  there,  where  blooded  race-horses  were 
bred;  and  a  sheep  farm,  where  several  hun- 
dred sheep  were  maintained.  In  our  days 
you'll  find  neither  blooded  horses  nor  sheep  at 
Ottenby.  In  place  of  them,  live  great  herds 
of  young  horses,  which  are  to  be  used  by  the 
cavalry. 

In  all  the  land  there  is  certainly  no  place 

225 


226  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

that  could  be  a  better  abode  for  animals. 
Along  the  extreme  eastern  shore  lies  the  old 
sheep  meadow,  which  is  a  mile  and  a  half  long, 
and  the  largest  meadow  in  all  Oland,  where 
animals  can  graze  and  play  and  run  about,  as 
free  as  if  they  were  in  a  wilderness.  And 
there  you  will  find  the  celebrated  Ottenby 
grove  with  the  hundred-year-old  oaks,  which 
give  shade  from  the  sun,  and  shelter  from  the 
severe  Oland  winds.  And  we  must  not  forget 
the  long  Ottenby  wall,  which  stretches  from 
shore  to  shore,  and  separates  Ottenby  from 
the  rest  of  the  island,  so  that  the  animals 
may  know  how  far  the  old  royal  demesne 
extends,  and  be  careful  about  getting  in  on 
other  ground,  where  they  are  not  so  well 
protected. 

You'll  find  plenty  of  tame  animals  at 
Ottenby,  but  that  isn't  all.  One  could  almost 
believe  that  the  wild  ones  also  felt  that  on  an 
old  crown  property  both  the  wild  and  the  tame 
ones  can  count  upon  shelter  and  protection — • 
since  they  venture  there  in  such  great  numbers. 

Beside,  there  are  still  a  few  stags  of  the 
old    descent    left;    and    burrow-ducks    and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  227 

partridges  love  to  live  there,  and  it  offers  a 
resting  place,  in  the  spring  and  late  summer, 
for  thousands  of  migratory  birds.  Above  all, 
it  is  the  swampy  eastern  shore  below  the 
sheep-meadow,  where  the  migratory  birds 
alight,  to  rest  and  feed. 

When  the  wild  geese  and  Nils  Holgersson 
had  finally  found  their  way  to  Oland,  they 
came  down,  like  all  the  rest,  on  the  shore  near 
the  sheep  meadow.  The  mist  lay  thick  over 
the  island,  just  as  it  had  over  the  sea.  But 
still  the  boy  was  amazed  at  all  the  birds  which 
he  discerned,  only  on  the  little  narrow  stretch 
of  shore  which  he  could  see. 

It  was  a  low  sand-shore  with  stones  and 
pools,  and  a  lot  of  cast-up  sea- weed.  If  the 
boy  had  been  permitted  to  choose,  it  isn't 
likely  that  he  would  have  thought  of  alighting 
there;  but  the  birds  probably  looked  upon 
this  as  a  veritable  paradise.  Ducks  and  geese 
walked  about  and  fed  on  the  meadow;  nearer 
the  water,  ran  snipe,  and  other  coast-birds. 
The  loons  lay  in  the  sea  and  fished,  but  the 
life  and  movement  was  upon  the  long  sea- 
weed banks  along  the  coast.    There  the  birds 


228  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

stood  side  by  side  close  together  and  picked 
grub-worms — which  must  have  been  found 
there  in  Hmitless  quantities  for  it  was  very 
evident  that  there  was  never  any  complaint 
over  a  lack  of  food. 

The  great  majority  were  going  to  travel 
farther,  and  had  only  alighted  to  take  a  short 
rest;  and  as  soon  as  the  leader  of  a  flock 
thought  that  his  comrades  had  recovered 
themselves  sufficiently  he  said,  "  If  you  are 
ready  now,  we  may  as  well  move  on." 

"No,  wait,  wait!  We  haven't  had  anything 
like  enough,"     said  the  followers. 

"You  surely  don't  believe  that  I  intend  to 
let  you  eat  so  much  that  you  will  not  be  able 
to  move?"  said  the  leader,  and  flapped  his 
wings  and  started  off.  Along  the  outermost 
sea- weed  banks  lay  a  flock  of  swans.  They 
didn't  bother  about  going  on  land,  but  rested 
themselves  by  lying  and  rocking  on  the  water. 
Now  and  then  they  dived  down  with  their  necks 
and  brought  up  food  from  the  sea-bottom. 
When  they  had  gotten  hold  of  anything  very 
good,  they  indulged  in  loud  shouts  that 
sounded  like  trumpet  calls. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  229 

When  the  boy  heard  that  there  were  swans 
on  the  shoals,  he  hurried  out  to  the  sea- weed 
banks.  He  had  never  before  seen  wild  swans 
at  close  range.  He  had  luck  on  his  side,  so 
that  he  got  close  up  to  them. 

The  boy  was  not  the  only  one  who  had  heard 
the  swans.  Both  the  wild  geese  and  the  gray 
geese  and  the  loons  swam  out  between  the 
banks,  laid  themselves  in  a  ring  around  the 
swans  and  stared  at  them.  The  swans  ruf- 
fled their  feathers,  raised  their  wings  like  sails, 
and  lifted  their  necks  high  in  the  air.  Occa 
sionally  one  and  another  of  them  swam  up  to 
a  goose,  or  a  great  loon,  or  a  diving-duck,  and 
said  a  few  words.  And  then  it  appeared  as 
though  the  one  addressed  hardly  dared  raise 
his  bill  to  reply.  "^ 

But  then  there  was  a  little  loon — a  tiny 
mischievous  baggage — ^who  couldn't  stand  all 
this  ceremony.  He  dived  suddenly,  and 
disappeared  under  the  water's  edge.  Soon 
after  that,  one  of  the  swans  let  out  a  scream, 
and  swam  off  so  quickly  that  the  water 
foamed.  Then  he  stopped  and  began  to  look 
majestic  once  more.     But  soon,  another  one 


230  ADVENTURES  OP  NILS 

shrieked  in  the  same  way  as  the  first  one,  and 
then  a  third. 

The  Httle  loon  wasn't  able  to  stay  under 
water  any  longer,  but  appeared  on  the  water's 
edge,  little  and  black  and  venomous.  The 
swans  rushed  toward  him;  but  when  they  saw 
what  a  poor  little  thing  it  was,  they  turned 
abruptly — as  if  they  considered  themselves 
too  good  to  quarrel  with  him.  Then  the  little 
loon  dived  again,  and  pinched  their  feet.  It 
certainly  must  have  hurt;  and  the  worst  of  it 
was,  that  they  could  not  maintain  their 
dignity.  At  once  they  took  a  decided  stand. 
They  began  to  beat  the  air  with  their  wings 
so  that  it  thundered;  came  forward  a  bit — as 
though  they  were  running  on  the  water — 
finally,  got  wind  under  their  wings,  and  raised 
themselves. 

When  the  swans  were  gone  they  were 
greatly  missed;  and  those  who  had  lately 
been  amused  by  the  little  loon's  antics  scolded 
him  for  his  thoughtlessness. 

The  boy  walked  toward  land  again .     There 
he  stationed  himself  to  see   how  the   pool- 
snipe  played.     They  resembled  small  storks; 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  231 

like  these,  they  had  Httle  bodies,  long  legs 
and  necks,  and  light,  swaying  movements; 
only  they  were  not  gray,  but  brown.  They 
stood  in  a  long  row  on  the  shore  where  it 
was  washed  by  waves.  As  soon  as  a  wave 
rolled  in,  the  whole  row  ran  backward;  as 
soon  as  it  receded,  they  followed  it.  And 
they  kept  this  up  for  hours. 

The  showiest  of  all  the  birds  were  the 
burrow-ducks.  They  were  undoubtedly 
related  to  the  ordinary  ducks;  for,  like  these, 
they  too  had  a  thick-set  body,  broad  bill,  and 
webbed  feet ;  but  they  were  much  more  elab- 
orately gotten  up.  The  feather  dress,  itself, 
was  white;  around  their  necks  they  wore  a 
broad  gold  band;  the  wing-mirror  shone  in 
green,  red,  and  black;  and  the  wing-edges  were 
black,  and  the  head  was  dark  green  and 
shimmered  like  satin. 

As  soon  as  any  of  these  appeared  on  the 
shore,  the  others  said:  "Now,  just  look  at 
those  things!  They  know  how  to  tog  them- 
selves out."  "If  they  were  not  so  con- 
spicuous, they  wouldn't  have  to  dig  their 
nests  in  the  earth,  but  could  lay  above  ground. 


232  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

like  anyone  else,"  said  a  brown  mallard-duck. 
"They  may  try  as  much  as  they  please,  still 
they'll  never  get  anywhere  with  such  noses," 
said  a  gray  goose.  And  this  was  actually 
true.  The  burrow-ducks  had  a  big  knob  on 
the  base  of  the  bill,  which  spoiled  their 
appearance. 

Close  to  the  shore,  sea-gulls  and  sea- 
swallows  moved  forward  on  the  water  and 
fished.  "What  kind  of  fish  are  you  catch- 
ing?" asked  a  wild  goose.  "It's  a  stickle- 
back. It's  Oland  stickleback.  It's  the  best 
stickleback  in  the  world,"  said  a  gull, 
"Won't  you  taste  of  it?"  And  he  flew  up  to 
the  goose,  with  his  mouth  full  of  the  little 
fishes,  and  wanted  to  give  her  some.  "Ugh! 
Do  you  think  that  I  eat  such  filth?"  said  the 
wild  goose. 

The  next  morning  it  was  just  as  cloudy. 
The  wild  geese  walked  about  on  the  meadow 
and  fed;  but  the  boy  had  gone  to  the  sea- 
shore to  gather  mussels.  There  were  plenty 
of  them;  and  when  he  thought  that  the  next 
day,  perhaps,  they  would  be  in  some  place 
where  they  couldn't  get  any  food  at  all,  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  233 

concluded  that  he  would  try  to  make  himself 
a  little  bag,  which  he  could  fill  with  mussels. 
He  found  an  old  sedge  on  the  meadow,  which 
was  strong  and  tough;  and  out  of  this  he 
began  to  braid  a  knapsack..  He  worked  at 
this  for  several  hours,  but  he  was  well  satis- 
fied with  it  when  it  was  finished. 

At  dinner  time  all  the  wild  geese  came 
running  and  asked  him  if  he  had  seen  any- 
thing of  the  white  goosey-gander.  "No,  he 
has  not  been  with  me,"  said  the  boy.  "We 
had  him  with  us  all  along  until  just  lately," 
said  Akka,  "but  now  we  no  longer  know 
where  he's  to  be  found." 

The  boy  jumped  up,  and  was  terribly  fright- 
ened. He  asked  if  any  fox  or  eagle  had  put 
in  an  appearance,  or  if  any  human  being  had 
been  seen  in  the  neighbourhood.  But  no  one 
had  noticed  anything  dangerous.  The 
goosey-gander  had  probably  lost  his  way  in 
the  mist. 

But  it  was  just  as  great  a  misfortune  for  the 
boy,  in  whatever  way  the  white  one  had  been 
lost,  and  he  started  off  immediately  to  hunt 
for  him.     The  mist  shielded  him,  so  that  he 


234  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

could  run  wherever  he  wished  without  being 
seen,  but  it  also  prevented  him  from  seeing. 
He  ran  southward  along  the  shore — all  the 
way  down  to  the  lighthouse  and  the  mist 
cannon  on  the  island's  extreme  point.  It 
was  the  same  bird  confusion  everywhere, 
but  no  goosey-gander.  He  ventured  over  to 
Ottenby  estate,  and  he  searched  every  one  of 
the  old,  hollow  oaks  in  Ottenby  grove,  but 
he  saw  no  trace  of  the  goosey-gander. 

He  searched  until  it  began  to  grow  dark. 
Then  he  had  to  turn  back  again  to  the  eastern 
shore.  He  walked  with  heavy  steps,  and 
was  fearfully  blue.  He  didn't  know  what 
would  become  of  him  if  he  couldn't  find  the 
goosey-gander.  There  was  no  one  whom  he 
could  spare  less. 

But  when  he  wandered  over  the  sheep 
meadow,  what  was  that  big,  white  thing  that 
came  toward  him  in  the  mist  if  it  wasn't 
the  goosey-gander?  He  was  all  right,  and 
very  glad  that,  at  last,  he  had  been  able  to 
find  his  way  back  to  the  others.  The  mist 
had  made  him  so  dizzy,  he  said,  that  he  had 
wandered  around  on  the  big  meadow  all  day 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  235 

long.  The  boy  threw  his  arms  around  his  neck, 
for  very  joy,  and  begged  him  to  take  care  of 
himself,  and  not  wander  away  from  the  others. 
And  he  promised,  positively,  that  he  never 
would  do  this  again.     No,  never  again. 

But  the  next  morning,  when  the  boy  went 
down  to  the  beach  and  hunted  for  mussels, 
the  geese  came  running  and  asked  if  he  had 
seen  the  goosey-gander.  No,  of  course  he 
hadn't.  "Well,  then  the  goosey-gander  was 
lost  again.  He  had  gone  astray  in  the  mist, 
just  as  he  had  done  the  day  before." 

The  boy  ran  off  in  great  terror  and  began 
to  search.  He  found  one  place  where  the 
Ottenby  wall  was  so  tumble-down  that  he 
could  climb  over  it.  Later,  he  went  about, 
first  on  the  shore — which  gradually  widened 
and  became  so  large  that  there  was  room  for 
fields  and  meadows  and  farms — then  up  on 
the  flat  highland,  which  lay  in  the  middle  of 
the  island,  and  where  there  were  no  buildings 
except  windmills,  and  where  the  turf  was  so 
thin  that  the  white  cement  shone  under  it. 

Meanwhile,  he  could  not  find  the  goosey- 
gander;  and  as  it  drew  on  toward  evening, 


236  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

and  the  boy  must  return  to  the  beach,  he 
couldn't  beheve  anything  but  that  his 
travelhng  companion  was  lost.  He  was  so 
depressed,  he  did  not  know  what  to  do 
with  himself. 

He  had  just  climbed  over  the  wall  again 
when  he  heard  a  stone  crash  down  close 
beside  him.  As  he  turned  to  see  what  it  was, 
he  thought  that  he  could  distinguish  some- 
thing that  moved  on  a  stone  pile  which  lay 
close  to  the  wall.  He  stole  nearer,  and  saw 
the  goosey-gander  come  trudging  wearily 
over  the  stone  pile,  with  several  long  fibres  in 
his  mouth.  The  goosey-gander  didn't  see 
the  boy,  and  the  boy  did  not  call  to  him,  but 
thought  it  advisable  to  find  out  first  why  the 
goosey-gander  time  and  again  disappeared  in 
this  manner. 

And  he  soon  learned  the  reason  for  it.  Up 
in  the  stone-pile  lay  a  young  gray  goose, 
who  cried  with  joy  when  the  goosey-gander 
came.  The  boy  crept  near,  so  that  he  heard 
what  they  said;  then  he  found  out  that  the 
gray  goose  had  been  wounded  in  one  wing, 
so  that  she  could  not  fly,  and  that  her  flock 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  237 

had  travelled  away  from  her,  and  left  her 
alone.  She  had  been  near  death's  door  with 
hunger,  when  the  white  goosey-gander  had 
heard  her  call,  the  other  day,  and  had 
sought  her  out.  Ever  since,  he  had  been 
carrying  food  to  her.  They  had  both  hoped 
that  she  would  be  well  before  they  left  the 
island,  but,  as  yet,  she  could  neither  fly  nor 
walk.  She  was  very  much  worried  over  this, 
but  he  comforted  her  with  the  thought  that 
he  shouldn't  travel  for  a  long  time.  At  last 
he  bade  her  good-night,  and  promised  to  come 
the  next  day. 

The  boy  let  the  goosey-gander  go;  and  as 
soon  as  he  was  gone,  he  stole,  in  turn,  up  to 
the  stone  heap.  He  was  angry  because  he  had 
been  deceived,  and  now  he  wanted  to  say  to 
that  gray  goose  that  the  goosey-gander  was 
his  property.  He  was  going  to  take  the 
boy  up  to  Lappland,  and  there  would  be 
no  talk  of  his  staying  here  on  her  account. 
But  now,  when  he  saw  the  young  gray  goose 
close  to,  he  understood,  not  only  why  the 
goosey-gander  had  gone  and  carried  food  to 
her  for  two  days,  but  also  why  he  had  not 


238  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

wished  to  mention  that  he  had  helped  her. 
She  had  the  prettiest  Httle  head ;  her  feather- 
dress  was  Hke  soft  satin,  and  the  eyes  were 
mild  and  pleading. 

When  she  saw  the  boy,  she  wanted  to  run 
away;  but  the  left  wing  was  out  of  joint  and 
dragged  on  the  ground,  so  that  it  interfered 
with  her  movements. 

"You  mustn't  be  afraid  of  me,"  said  the 
boy,  and  didn't  look  nearly  so  angry  as  he  had 
intended  to  appear.  "I'm  Thumbietot,  Mor- 
ten goosey-gander's  comrade,"  he  continued. 
Then  he  stood  there,  and  didn't  know  what 
he  wanted  to  say. 

Occasionally  one  finds  something  among 
animals  which  makes  one  wonder  what  sort  of 
creatures  they  really  are.  One  is  almost 
afraid  that  they  may  be  transformed  human 
beings.  It  was  something  like  this  with  the 
gray  goose.  As  soon  as  Thumbietot  said 
who  he  was,  she  lowered  her  neck  and  head 
very  charmingly  before  him,  and  said  in  a 
voice  that  was  so  pretty  that  he  couldn't 
believe  it  was  a  goose  who  spoke:  "I  am 
very  glad  that  you  have  come  here  to  help 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  239 

me.  The  white  goosey-gander  has  told  me 
that  no  one  is  as  wise  and  as  good  as  you." 

She  said  this  with  such  dignity,  that  the 
boy  grew  really  embarrassed.  "This  surely 
can't  be  any  bird,"  thought  he.  "It  is  cer- 
tainly some  bewitched  princess." 

He  was  filled  with  a  desire  to  help  her,  and 
ran  his  hand  under  the  feathers,  and  felt 
along  the  wing-bone.  The  bone  was  not 
broken,  but  there  was  something  wrong  with 
the  joint.  He  got  his  finger  down  into  the 
empty  cavity.  "Be  careful,  now!"  he  said; 
and  got  a  firm  grip  on  the  bone-pipe  and  fitted 
it  into  the  place  where  it  ought  to  be.  He  did 
it  very  quickly  and  well,  considering  it  was  the 
first  time  that  he  had  attempted  anything  of 
the  sort.  But  it  must  have  hurt  very  much,  for 
the  poor  young  goose  uttered  a  single  shrill 
cry,  and  then  sank  down  among  the  stones 
without  showing  a  sign  of  life. 

The  boy  was  terribly  frightened.  He  had 
only  wished  to  help  her,  and  now  she  was 
dead.  He  made  a  big  jump  from  the  stone 
pile,  and  ran  away.  He  thought  it  was  as 
though  he  had  murdered  a  human  being. 


240  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  next  morning  it  was  clear  and  free 
from  mist,  and  Akka  said  that  now  they 
should  continue  their  travels.  All  the  others 
were  willing  to  go,  but  the  white  goosey- 
gander  made  excuses.  The  boy  understood 
well  enough  that  he  didn't  care  to  leave  the 
gray  goose.  Akka  did  not  listen  to  him,  but 
started  off. 

The  boy  jumped  up  on  the  goosey-gander's 
back,  and  the  white  one  followed  the  flock — 
albeit  slowly  and  unwillingly.  The  boy  was 
mighty  glad  that  they  could  fly  away  from 
the  island.  He  was  conscience-stricken  on 
account  of  the  gray  goose,  and  had  not  cared 
to  tell  the  goosey-gander  how  it  had  turned 
out  when  he  had  tried  to  cure  her.  It  would 
probably  be  best  if  Morten  goosey-gander 
never  found  out  about  this,  he  thought, 
though  he  wondered,  at  the  same  time,  how 
the  white  one  had  the  heart  to  leave  the  gray 
goose. 

But  suddenly  the  goosey-gander  turned. 
The  thought  of  the  young  gray  goose  had 
overpowered  him.  It  could  go  as  it  would 
with    the     Lappland    trip:     he    couldn't    go 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  241 

with  the  others  when  he  knew  that  she  lay 
alone  and  ill,  and  would  starve  to  death. 

With  a  few  wing-strokes  he  was  over  by 
the  stone  pile;  but  then,  there  lay  no  young 
gray  goose  between  the  stones.  "Dunfin! 
Dunfin !  Where  art  thou  ? ' '  called  the  goosey- 
gander. 

"  The  fox  has  probably  been  here  and  taken 
her,"  thought  the  boy.  But  at  that  moment 
he  heard  a  pretty  voice  answer  the  goosey- 
gander.  "Here  am  I,  goosey-gander;  here 
am  I!  I  have  only  been  taking  a  morning 
bath."  And  up  from  the  water  came  the 
little  gray  goose — fresh  and  in  good  trim — 
and  told  how  Thumb  ietot  had  pulled  her 
wing  into  place,  and  that  she  was  entirely 
well,  and  ready  to  follow  them  on  the  journey. 

The  drops  of  water  lay  like  pearl-dew  on  her 
shimmery  satin-like  feathers,  and  Thumbietot 
thought  once  again  that  she  was  a  real  little 
princess. 


XII 

THE  BIG  BUTTERFLY 

Wednesday,  April  sixth. 

THE  geese  travelled  alongside  the  coast  of 
the  long  island,  which  lay  distinctly 
visible  under  them.  The  boy  felt  happy 
and  light  of  heart  during  the  trip.  He  was 
just  as  pleased  and  well  satisfied  as  he  had 
been  glum  and  depressed  the  day  before, 
when  he  roamed  around  down  on  the  island, 
and  hunted  for  the  goosey-gander. 

He  saw  now  that  the  interior  of  the  island 
consisted  of  a  barren  high  plain,  with  a  wreath 
of  fertile  land  along  the  coast;  and  he  began 
to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  something 
which  he  had  heard  the  other  evening. 

He  had  just  seated    himself   to  rest  a   bit 

by  one  of  the  many  windmills  on  the  highland, 

when  a  couple  of  shepherds  came  along  with 

the  dogs  beside  them,  and  a  large  herd  of  sheep 

in  their  train.     The  boy  had  not  been  afraid 

243 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  243 

because  he  was  well  concealed  under  the 
windmill  stairs.  But  as  it  turned  out,  the 
shepherds  came  and  seated  themselves  on  the 
same  stairway,  and  then  there  was  nothing 
for  him  to  do  but  to  keep  perfectly  still. 

One  of  the  shepherds  was  young,  and  looked 
about  as  folks  do  mostly;  the  other  was  an 
old  queer  one.  His  body  was  large  and 
knotty,  but  the  head  was  small,  and  the  face 
had  sensitive  and  delicate  features.  It  ap- 
peared as  though  the  body  and  head  didn't 
want  to  fit  together  at  all. 

One  moment  he  sat  silent  and  gazed  into 
the  mist,  with  an  unutterably  weary  expres- 
sion. Then  he  began  to  talk  to  his  com- 
panion. Then  the  other  one  took  out  some 
bread  and  cheese  from  his  knapsack,  to  eat 
his  evening  meal.  He  answered  scarcely 
anything,  but  listened  very  patiently,  just  as 
if  he  were  thinking :  "I  might  as  well  give  you 
the  pleasure  of  letting  you  chatter  a  while." 

"Now  I  shall  tell  you  something,  Eric," 
said  the  old  shepherd.  "I  have  figured  out 
that  in  former  days,  when  both  human  beings 
and  animals  were  much  larger  than  they  are 


244 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


now,  that  the  butterflies,  too,  must  have  been 
uncommonly  large.  And  once  there  was  a 
butterfly  that  was  many  miles  long,  and  had 
wings  as  wide  as  seas.  Those  wings  were 
blue,  and  shone  like  silver,  and  so  gorgeous 
that,  when  the  butterfly  was  out  flying,  all 
the  other  animals  stood  still  and  stared  at  it. 
It  had  this  drawback,  however,  that  it  was 
too  large.  The  wings  had  hard  work  to  carry 
it.  But  probably  all  would  have  gone  very 
well,  if  the  butterfly  had  been  wise  enough  to 
remain  on  the  hillside.  But  it  wasn't;  it  ven- 
tured out  over  the  East  sea.  And  it  hadn't  got- 
ten very  far  before  the  storm  came  along  and 
began  to  tear  at  its  wings.  Well,  it's  easy  to 
understand,  Eric,  how  things  would  go  when 
the  East  sea  storm  commenced  to  wrestle  with 
frail  butterfly-wings.  It  wasn't  long  before 
they  were  torn  away  and  scattered ;  and  then, 
of  course,  the  poor  butterfly  fell  into  the  sea. 
At  first  it  was  tossed  backward  and  forward 
on  the  billows,  and  then  it  was  stranded  upon 
a  few  cliff-foundations  outside  of  Smaland. 
And  there  it  lay — as  large  and  long  as  it  was. 
"Now  I  think,  Eric,  that  if  the  butterfly 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS         245 

had  dropped  on  land,  it  would  soon  have 
rotted  and  fallen  apart.  But  since  it  fell  into 
the  sea,  it  was  soaked  through  and  through 
with  lime,  and  became  as  hard  as  a  stone. 
You  know,  of  course,  that  we  have  found 
stones  on  the  shore  which  were  nothing  but 
petrified  worms.  Now  I  believe  that  it  went 
the  same  way  with  the  big  butterfly-body.  I 
believe  that  it  turned  where  it  lay  into  a 
long,  narrow  mountain  out  in  the  East  sea. 
Don't  you?" 

He  paused  for  a  reply,  and  the  other  one 
nodded  to  him.  "Go  on,  so  I  may  hear  what 
you  are  driving  at,"  said  he. 

"And  mark  you,  Eric,  "that  this  very 
Oland,  upon  which  you  and  I  live,  is  nothing 
else  than  the  old  butterfly-body.  If  one  only 
thinks  about  it,  one  can  observe  that  the  island 
is  a  butterfly.  Toward  the  north,  the  slender 
fore-body  and  the  round  head  can  be  seen, 
and  toward  the  south,  one  sees  the  back-body 
— ^which  first  broadens  out,  and  then  narrows 
to  a  sharp  point." 

Here  he  paused  once  more  and  looked  at 
his     companion    rather     anxiously    to     see 


246  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

how  he  would  take  this  assertion.  But  the 
young  man  kept  on  eating  with  the  utmost 
cahii,  and  nodded  to  him  to  continue. 

"As  soon  as  the  butterfly  had  been  changed 
into  a  Hmestone  rock,  many  different  kinds  of 
seeds  of  herbs  and  trees  came  travelhng  with 
the  winds,  and  wanted  to  take  root  on  it.  It 
was  a  long  time  before  anything  but  sedge 
could  grow  there.  Then  came  sheep  sorrel, 
and  the  rock-rose  and  thorn-brush.  But 
even  to-day  there  is  not  so  much  growth  on 
Alvaret,  that  the  mountain  is  well  covered, 
but  it  shines  through  here  and  there.  And 
no  one  can  think  of  ploughing  and  sowing  up 
here,  where  the  earth-crust  is  so  thin.  But 
if  you  will  admit  that  Alvaret  and  the  strong- 
holds around  it,  are  made  of  the  butterfly- 
body,  then  you  may  well  have  the  right  to 
question  where  that  land  which  lies  beneath 
the  strongholds  came  from." 

"Yes,  it  is  just  that,"  said  he  who  was 
eating.    "That  I  should  indeed  like  to  know." 

"Well,  you  must  remember  that  Oland  has 
lain  in  the  sea  for  a  good  many  years,  and  in 
the  course  of  time  all  the  things  which  tumble 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  247 

around  with  the  waves — sea-weed  and  sand 
and  clams — have  gathered  around  it,  and 
remained  lying  there.  And  then,  stone  and 
gravel  have  fallen  down  from  both  the  eastern 
and  western  strongholds.  In  this  way  the 
island  has  acquired  broad  shores,  where  grain 
and  flowers  and  trees  can  grow. 

"Up  here,  on  the  hard  butterfly-back,  only 
sheep  and  cows  and  little  horses  go  about. 
Only  lapwings  and  plover  live  here,  and  there 
are  no  buildings  except  windmills  and  a  few 
stone  huts,  where  we  shepherds  crawl  in.  But 
down  on  the  coast  lie  big  villages  and 
churches  and  parishes  and  fishing  hamlets 
and  a  whole  city." 

He  looked  questioningly  at  the  other  one. 
This  one  had  finished  his  meal,  and  was  tying 
the  food-sack  together.  "  I  wonder  where 
you  will  end  with  all  this,"  said  he. 

"It  is  only  this  that  I  want  to  know,"  said 
the  shepherd,  as  he  lowered  his  voice  so  that 
he  almost  whispered  the  words,  and  looked 
into  the  mist  with  his  small  eyes,  which 
appeared  to  be  worn  out  from  spying  after  all 
that   which    does   not    exist.     "Only    this    I 


248  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

want  to  know :  if  the  peasants  who  hve  on  the 
built-up  farms  beneath  the  strongholds,  or  the 
fishermen  who  take  the  small  herring  from  the 
sea,  or  the  merchants  in  Borgholm,  or  the 
bathing  guests  who  come  here  every  summer, 
or  the  tourists  who  wander  around  in  Borg- 
holm's  old  castle  ruin,  or  the  sportsmen  who 
come  here  in  the  fall  to  hunt  partridges,  or 
the  painters  who  sit  here  on  Alvaret  and  paint 
the  sheep  and  windmills — I  should  like  to 
know  if  any  of  them  understand  that  this  island 
has  been  a  butterfly  which  flew  about  with 
great  shimmer y  wings." 

"Ah!"  said  the  young  shepherd,  suddenly. 
"  It  should  have  occurred  to  some  of  them,  as 
they  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  stronghold  of  an 
evening,  and  heard  the  nightingales  trill  in 
the  groves  below  them,  and  looked  over 
Kalmar  Sound,  that  this  island  could  not  have 
come  into  existence  in  the  same  way  as  the 
others." 

"  I  want  to  ask,"  said  the  old  one,  "  if  no  one 
has  had  the  desire  to  give  wings  to  the  wind- 
mills— so  large  that  they  could  reach  to 
heaven,  so  large  that  they  could  lift  the  whole 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  249 

island  out  of  the  sea  and  let  it  fly  like  a 
butterfly  among  butterflies." 

"  It  may  be  possible  that  there  is  something 
in  what  you  say,"  said  the  young  one;  "for 
on  summer  nights,  when  the  heavens  widen 
and  open  over  the  island,  I  have  sometimes 
thought  that  it  was  as  if  it  wanted  to  raise 
itself  from  the  sea,  and  fly  away." 

But  when  the  old  one  had  finally  gotten 
the  young  one  to  talk,  he  didn't  listen  to  him 
very  much.  "  I  would  like  to  know,"  the  old 
one  said  in  a  low  tone,  "  if  anyone  can  explain 
why  one  feels  such  a  longing  up  here  on 
Alvaret.  I  have  felt  it  every  day  of  my  life; 
and  I  think  it  preys  upon  each  and  every  one 
who  must  go  about  here.  I  want  to  know  if 
no  one  else  has  understood  that  all  this  wist- 
fulness  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  whole 
island  is  a  butterfly  that  longs  for  its  wings." 


XIII 

LITTLE  KARL'S  ISLAND 

THE    STORM 

Friday,  April  eighth. 

THE  wild  geese  had  spent  the  night  on 
Oland's  northern  point,  and  were  now 
on  their  way  to  the  continent.  A  strong 
south  wind  blew  over  Kalmar  Sound,  and 
they  had  been  thrown  northward.  Still  they 
worked  their  way  toward  land  with  good 
speed.  But  when  they  were  nearing  the  first 
islands  a  powerful  rumbling  was  heard,  as  if 
a  lot  of  strong- winged  birds  had  come  flying; 
and  the  water  under  them,  all  at  once,  became 
perfectly  black.  Akka  drew  in  her  wings  so 
suddenly  that  she  almost  stood  still  in  the 
air.  Thereupon,  she  lowered  herself  to  light 
on  the  edge  of  the  sea.  But  before  the  geese 
had  reached  the  water,  the  west  storm  caught 

up  with  them.     Already,   it  drove  before  it 

250 


■■.n^.J^.J^ 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  251 

fogs,  salt  scum  and  small  birds;  it  also 
snatched  with  it  the  wild  geese,  threw  them 
on  end,  and  cast  them  toward  the  sea. 

It  was  a  rough  storm.  The  wild  geese  tried 
to  turn  back,  time  and  again,  but  they  couldn't 
do  it  and  were  driven  out  toward  the  East 
sea.  The  storm  had  already  blown  them  past 
Oland,  and  the  sea  lay  before  them — empty 
and  desolate.  There  was  nothing  for  them 
to  do,  but  to  keep  out  of  the  water. 

When  Akka  observed  that  they  were  unable 
to  turn  back  she  thought  that  it  was  needless 
to  let  the  storm  drive  them  over  the  entire 
East  sea.  Therefore  she  sank  down  to  the 
water.  Now  the  sea  was  raging,  and 
increased  in  violence  with  every  second.  The 
sea-green  billows  rolled  forward,  with  seething 
foam  on  their  crests.  Each  one  surged  higher 
than  the  other.  It  was  as  though  they  raced 
with  each  other,  to  see  which  could  foam  the 
wildest.  But  the  wild  geese  were  not  afraid 
of  the  swells.  On  the  contrary,  this  seemed 
to  afford  them  much  pleasure.  They  did  not 
strain  themselves  with  swimming,  but  lay 
and  let  themselves  be  washed  up  with  the 


252  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

wave-crests,  and  down  in  the  water-dales, 
and  had  just  as  much  fun  as  children  in  a 
swing.  Their  only  anxiety  was  that  the 
flock  should  be  separated.  The  few  land- 
birds  who  drove  by,  up  in  the  storm,  cried 
with  envy:  "There  is  no  danger  for  you 
who  can  swim." 

But  the  wild  geese  were  certainly  not  out  of 
all  danger.  In  the  first  place,  the  rocking 
made  them  helplessly  sleepy.  They  wished 
continually  to  turn  their  heads  backward, 
poke  their  bills  under  their  wings,  and  go  to 
sleep.  Nothing  can  be  more  dangerous  than 
to  fall  asleep  in  this  way;  and  Akka  called 
out  all  the  while:  "Don't  go  to  sleep,  wild 
geese!  He  that  falls  asleep  will  get  away 
from  the  flock.  He  that  gets  away  from  the 
flock  is  lost." 

Despite  all  attempts  at  resistance  one 
after  another  fell  asleep;  and  Akka  herself 
came  pretty  near  dozing  off,  when  she  sud- 
denly saw  something  round  and  dark  rise  on 
the  top  of  a  wave.  "Seals!  Seals!  Seals!" 
cried  Akka  in  a  high,  shrill  voice,  and  raised 
herself  up  in  the  air  with  resounding  wing- 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  253 

strokes.  It  was  just  at  the  crucial  moment. 
Before  the  last  wild  goose  had  time  to  come 
up  from  the  water,  the  seals  were  so  close  to 
her  that  they  made  a  grab  for  her  feet. 

Then  the  wild  geese  were  once  more  up  in 
the  storm  which  drove  them  before  it  out  to 
sea.  No  rest  did  it  allow  either  itself  or  the 
wild  geese;  and  no  land  did  they  see — only 
desolate  sea. 

They  lit  on  the  water  again,  as  soon  as  they 
dared  venture.  But  when  they  had  rocked 
upon  the  waves  for  a  while,  they  became 
sleepy  again.  And  when  they  fell  asleep, 
the  seals  came  swimming.  If  old  Akka  had 
not  been  so  wakeful,  not  one  of  them  would 
have  escaped. 

All  day  the  storm  raged;  and  it  caused 
fearful  havoc  among  the  crowds  of  little  birds, 
which  at  this  time  of  year  were  migrating. 
Some  were  driven  from  their  course  to  foreign 
lands,  where  they  died  of  starvation;  others 
became  so  exhausted  that  they  sank  down  in 
the  sea  and  were  drowned.  Many  were 
crushed  against  the  cliff-walls,  and  many 
became  a  prey  for  the  seals. 


254 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


The  storm  continued  all  day,  and,  at  last, 
Akka  began  to  wonder  if  she  and  her  flock 
would  perish.  They  were  now  dead  tired, 
and  nowhere  did  they  see  any  place 
where  they  might  rest.  Toward  evening  she 
no  longer  dared  to  lie  down  on  the  sea, 
because  now  it  filled  up  all  of  a  sudden  with 
large  ice-cakes,  which  struck  against  each 
other,  and  she  feared  they  should  be  crushed 
between  these.  A  couple  of  times  the  wild 
geese  tried  to  stand  on  the  ice-crust;  but 
one  time  the  wild  storm  swept  them  into  the 
water;  another  time,  the  merciless  seals 
came  creeping  up  on  the  ice. 

At  sundown  the  wild  geese  were  once  more 
up  in  the  air.  They  flew  on — fearful  for  the 
night.  The  darkness  seemed  to  come  upon 
them  much  too  quickly  this  night — ^which 
was  so  full  of  dangers. 

It  was  terrible  that  they,  as  yet,  saw  no  land. 
How  would  it  go  with  them  if  they  were 
forced  to  stay  out  on  the  sea  all  night  ?  They 
would  either  be  crushed  between  the  ice-cakes 
or  devoured  by  seals  or  separated  by  the 
storm. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  255 

The  heavens  were  cloud-bedecked,  the  moon 
hid  itself,  and  the  darkness  came  quickly. 
At  the  same  time  all  nature  was  filled  with  a 
horror  which  caused  the  most  courageous 
hearts  to  quail.  Distressed  bird-travellers' 
cries  had  sounded  over  the  sea  all  day  long, 
without  anyone  having  paid  the  slightest 
attention  to  them;  but  now,  when  one  no 
longer  saw  who  it  was  that  uttered  them, 
they  seemed  mournful  and  terrifying.  Down 
on  the  sea,  the  ice-drifts  crashed  against  each 
other  with  a  loud  rumbling  noise.  The  seals 
tuned  up  their  wild  hunting  songs.  It  was 
as  though  heaven  and  earth  were  about  to 
clash. 

THE    SHEEP 

The  boy  sat  for  a  moment  and  looked 
down  into  the  sea.  Suddenly  he  thought 
that  it  began  to  roar  louder  than  ever.  He 
looked  up.  Right  in  front  of  him — only  a 
couple  of  metres  away — stood  a  rugged  and 
bare  mount  a  in- wall.  At  its  base  the  waves 
dashed  into  a  foaming  spray.  The  wild 
geese  flew  straight  toward  the  cliff,  and  the 


256  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

boy  did  not  see  how  they  could  avoid  being 
dashed  to  pieces  against  it.  Hardly  had  he 
wondered  that  Akka  hadn't  seen  the  dan- 
ger in  time,  when  they  were  over  by  the 
mountain.  Then  he  also  noticed  that  in 
front  of  them  was  the  half-round  entrance 
to  a  grotto.  Into  this  the  geese  steered; 
and  the  next  moment  they  were  safe. 

The  first  thing  the  wild  geese  thought  of — ■ 
before  they  gave  themselves  time  to  rejoice 
over  their  safety — was  to  see  if  all  their  com- 
rades were  also  harboured.  Yes,  there  were 
Akka,  Iksi,  Kolmi,  Nelja,  Viisi,  Knusi,  all 
the  six  goslings,  the  goosey-gander,  Dunfin 
and  Thumbietot;  but  Kaksi  from  Nuolja, 
the  first  left-hand  goose,  was  missing — and  no 
one  knew  anything  about  her  fate. 

When  the  wild  geese  discovered  that  no 
one  but  Kaksi  had  been  separated  from  the 
flock,  they  took  the  matter  lightly.  Kaksi 
was  old  and  wise.  She  knew  all  their  byways 
and  their  habits,  and  she,  of  course,  would 
know  how  to  find  her  way  back  to  them. 

Then  the  wild  geese  began  to  look  around  in 
the  cave.     Enough  daylight  came  in  through 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  257 

the  opening,  so  that  they  could  see  the 
grotto  was  both  deep  and  wide.  They  were 
dehghted  to  think  they  had  found  such  a 
fine  night  harbour,  when  one  of  them  caught 
sight  of  some  shining,  green  dots,  which  ght- 
tered  in  a  dark  corner.  "These  are  eyes!" 
cried  Akka.  "  There  are  big  animals  in  here." 
They  rushed  toward  the  opening,  but  Thumb- 
ietot  called  to  them:  "There  is  nothing  to 
run  away  from!  It's  only  a  few  sheep  who 
are  lying  alongside  the  grotto  wall." 

When  the  wild  geese  had  accustomed  them- 
selves to  the  dim  daylight  in  the  grotto,  they 
saw  the  sheep  very  distinctly.  The  grown-up 
ones  might  be  about  as  many  as  there  were 
geese;  but  beside  these  there  were  a  few 
little  lambs.  An  old  ram  with  long,  twisted 
horns  appeared  to  be  the  most  lordly  one  of 
the  flock.  The  wild  geese  went  up  to  him 
with  much  bowing  and  scraping.  "Well 
met  in  the  wilderness!"  they  greeted,  but 
the  big  ram  lay  still,  and  did  not  speak  a 
word  of  welcome. 

Then  the  wild  geese  thought  that  the  sheep 
were    displeased    because    they    had    taken 


258  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

shelter  in  their  grotto.  "  It  is  perhaps  not 
permissible  that  we  have  come  in  here?" 
said  Akka.  "But  we  cannot  help  it,  for  we 
are  wind-driven.  We  have  wandered  about 
in  the  storm  all  day,  and  it  would  be  very 
good  to  be  allowed  to  stop  here  to-night." 
After  that  a  long  time  passed  before  any  of 
the  sheep  answered  with  words;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  could  be  heard  distinctly  that 
a  pair  of  them  heaved  deep  sighs.  Akka 
knew,  to  be  sure,  that  sheep  are  always  shy 
and  peculiar;  but  these  seemed  to  have  no 
idea  of  how  they  should  conduct  themselves. 
Finally  an  old  ewe,  who  had  a  long  and 
pathetic  face  and  a  doleful  voice,  said: 
"There  isn't  one  among  us  that  refuses  to 
let  you  stay ;  but  this  is  a  house  of  mourning, 
and  we  cannot  receive  guests  as  we  did  in 
former  days."  "You  needn't  worry  about 
anything  of  that  sort,"  said  Akka.  "If  you 
knew  what  we  have  endured  this  day,  you 
would  surely  understand  that  we  are  satisfied 
if  we  only  get  a  safe  spot  to  sleep  on." 

When  Akka  said  this,  the  old  ewe  raised 
herself.     "I  believe  that  it  would  be  better 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  259 

for  you  to  fly  about  in  the  worst  storm  than 
to  stop  here.  But,  at  least,  you  shall  not  go 
from  here  before  we  have  had  the  privilege 
of  offering  you  the  best  hospitality  which 
the  house  affords." 

She  conducted  them  to  a  hollow  in  the 
ground,  which  was  filled  with  water.  Beside 
it  lay  a  pile  of  bait  and  husks  and  chaff;  and 
she  bade  them  make  the  most  of  these.  "  We 
have  had  a  severe  snow-winter  this  year,  on 
the  island,"  said  she.  "The  peasants  who 
own  us  came  out  to  us  with  hay  and  oaten 
straw,  so  we  shouldn't  starve  to  death.  And 
this  trash  is  all  there  is  left  of  the  good  cheer." 

The  geese  rushed  to  the  food  instantly. 
They  thought  that  they  had  fared  well,  and 
were  in  their  best  humour.  They  must  have 
observed,  of  course,  that  the  sheep  were 
anxious;  but  they  knew  how  easily  scared 
sheep  generally  are,  and  didn't  believe  there 
was  any  actual  danger  on  foot.  As  soon  as 
they  had  eaten,  they  intended  to  stand  up  to 
sleep  as  usual.  But  then  the  big  ram  got 
up,  and  walked  over  to  them.  The  geese 
thought  that  they  had  never  seen  a  sheep 


26o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  " 

with  such  big  and  coarse  horns.  In  other 
respects,  also,  he  was  noticeable.  He  had 
a  high,  rolling  forehead,  intelligent  eyes,  and 
a  good  bearing — as  though  he  were  a  proud 
and  courageous  animal. 

"I  cannot  assume  the  responsibility  of 
letting  you  geese  remain,  without  telling  you 
that  it  is  unsafe  here,"  said  he.  "We  cannot 
receive  night  guests  just  now."  At  last 
Akka  began  to  comprehend  that  this  was 
serious.  "We  shall  go  away,  since  you  really 
wish  it,"  said  she.  "But  won't  you  tell  us 
first,  what  it  is  that  troubles  you?  Wp 
know  nothing  about  it.  We  do  not  even 
know  where  we  are."  "This  is  Little  Karl's 
Island!"  said  the  ram.  "It  lies  outside  of 
Gottland,  and  only  sheep  and  sea-birds  live 
here."  "Perhaps  you  are  wild  sheep?"  said 
Akka.  "We're  not  far  removed  from  it," 
replied  the  ram.  "We  have  nothing  to  do 
with  human  beings.  It's  an  old  agreement 
between  us  and  some  peasants  on  a  farm  in 
Gottland,  that  they  shall  supply  us  with 
fodder  in  case  we  have  snow-winter;  and  as 
a  recompense    they  are  permitted   to   take 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  261 

away  those  of  us  who  become  superfluous. 
The  island  is  small,  so  it  cannot  feed  very 
many  of  us.  But  otherwise  we  take  care  of 
ourselves  all  the  year  round,  and  we  do  not 
live  in  houses  with  doors  and  locks,  but  we 
reside  in  grottoes  like  these." 

"Do  you  stay  out  here  in  the  winter  as 
well?"  asked  Akka,  surprised.  "We  do," 
answered  the  ram.  "We  have  good  fodder 
up  here  on  the  mountain,  all  the  year  around." 
"  I  think  it  sounds  as  if  you  might  have  it 
better  than  other  sheep,"  said  Akka.  "But 
what  is  the  misfortune  that  has  befallen 
you?"  " It  was  bitter  cold  last  winter.  The 
sea  froze,  and  then  three  foxes  came  over  here 
on  the  ice,  and  here  they  have  been  ever 
since.  Otherwise,  there  are  no  dangerous 
animals  here  on  the  island."  "Oh,  ho!  do 
foxes  dare  to  attack  such  as  you?"  "Oh, 
no!  not  during  the  day;  then  I  can  protect 
myself  and  mine,"  said  the  ram,  shaking  his 
horns.  "But  they  sneak  upon  us  at  night 
when  we  sleep  in  the  grottoes.  We  try  to 
keep  awake,  but  one  must  sleep  some  of  the 
time;  and  then  they  come  upon  us.     They 


262  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

have  already  killed  every  sheep  in  the  other 
grottoes,  and  there  were  herds  that  were  just 
as  large  as  mine." 

"  It  isn't  pleasant  to  tell  that  we  are  so 
helpless,"  said  the  old  ewe.  "We  cannot 
help  ourselves  any  better  than  if  we  were 
tame  sheep."  "Do  you  think  that  they 
will  come  here  to-night  ? "  asked  Akka.  **  There 
is  nothing  else  in  store  for  us,"  answered  the 
old  ewe.  "They  were  here  last  night,  and 
stole  a  lamb  from  us.  They'll  be  sure  to  come 
again,  as  long  as  there  are  any  of  us  alive. 
This  is  what  they  have  done  in  the  other 
places."  "But  if  they  are  allowed  to  keep 
this  up,  you'll  become  entirely  exterminated," 
said  Akka.  "Oh!  it  won't  be  long  before 
it  is  all  over  with  the  sheep  on  Little  Karl's 
Island,"  said  the  ewe. 

Akka  stood  there  hesitatingly.  It  was  not 
pleasant,  by  any  means,  to  venture  out  in 
the  storm  again,  and  it  wasn't  good  to 
remain  in  a  house  where  such  guests  were 
expected.  When  she  had  pondered  a  while, 
she  turned  to  Thumbietot.  "  I  wonder  if 
you  will  help  us,  as  you  have  done  so  many 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  263 

times  before,"  said  she.  Yes,  that  he  would 
like  to  do,  he  replied.  "It  is  a  pity  for  you 
not  to  get  any  sleep!"  said  the  wild  goose, 
"but  I  wonder  if  you  are  able  to  keep  awake 
until  the  foxes  come,  and  then  to  awaken  us, 
so  we  may  fly  away."  The  boy  was  so  very 
glad  of  this — for  anything  was  better  than  to 
go  out  in  the  storm  again — so  he  promised 
to  keep  awake. 

The  boy  went  down  to  the  grotto  opening, 
crawled  in  behind  a  stone,  that  he  might  be 
shielded  from  the  storm,  and  sat  down  to 
watch. 

When  the  boy  had  been  sitting  there  a 
while,  the  storm  seemed  to  abate.  The  sky 
grew  clear,  and  the  moonlight  began  to  play 
on  the  waves.  The  boy  stepped  to  the  open- 
ing to  look  out.  The  grotto  was  rather  high 
up  on  the  mountain.  A  narrow  path  led  to 
it.  It  was  probably  here  that  he  must  await 
the  foxes. 

As  yet  he  saw  no  foxes;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  something  which,  for  the 
moment,  terrified  him  much  more.  On  the 
land-strip  below  the  mountain    stood  some 


264  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

giants,  or  other  stone- trolls — or  perhaps  they 
were  actual  human  beings.  At  first  he 
thought  that  he  was  dreaming,  but  now  he 
was  positive  that  he  had  not  fallen  asleep. 
He  saw  the  big  men  so  distinctly  that  it 
couldn't  be  an  illusion.  Some  of  them  stood 
on  the  land-strip,  and  others  right  on  the 
mountain  just  as  if  they  intended  to  climb 
it.  Some  had  big,  thick  heads;  others  had 
no  heads  at  all.  Some  were  one-armed, 
and  some  had  humps  both  before  and 
behind.  He  had  never  seen  anything  so 
extraordinary. 

The  boy  stood  and  worked  himself  into  a 
state  of  panic  because  of  those  trolls,  so  that 
he  almost  forgot  to  keep  his  eye  peeled  for 
the  foxes.  But  now  he  heard  a  claw  scrape 
against  a  stone.  He  saw  three  foxes  coming 
up  the  steep ;  and  as  soon  as  he  knew  that  he 
had  something  real  to  deal  with,  he  was  calm 
again,  and  not  the  least  bit  scared.  It  struck 
him  that  it  was  a  pity  to  awaken  only  the 
geese,  and  to  leave  the  sheep  to  their  fate. 
He  thought  he  would  like  to  arrange  things 
some  other  way. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


26| 


He  ran  quickly  to  the  other  end  of  the  grotto, 
shook  the  big  ram's  horns  until  he  awoke,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  swung  himself  upon  his  back. 
"Get  up,  sheep,  and  we'll  try  to  frighten  the 
foxes  a  bit!"  said  the  boy. 

He  had  tried  to  be  as  quiet  as  possible, 
but  the  foxes  must  have  heard  some  noise; 
for  when  they  came  up  to  the  mouth  of  the 
grotto  they  stopped  and  deliberated.  "  It 
was  certainly  someone  in  there  that  moved." 
said  one.  "I  wonder  if  they  are  awake." 
"Oh,  go  ahead,  you!"  said  another.  "At 
all  events,  they  can't  do  anything  to  us." 

When  they  came  farther  in,  in  the  grotto, 
they  stopped  and  sniffed.  "Who  shall  we 
take  to-night?"  whispered  the  one  who  went 
first.  "To-night  we  will  take  the  big  ram," 
said  the  last.  "After  that,  we'll  have  easy 
work  with  the  rest." 

The  boy  sat  on  the  old  ram's  back  and  saw 
how  they  vSneaked  along.  "  Now  butt  straight 
forward!"  whispered  the  boy.  The  ram 
butted,  and  the  first  fox  was  thrust — top  over 
tail — ^back  to  the  opening.  "  Now  butt  to  the 
left!"  said  the  boy,  and  turned  the  big  ram's 


266  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

head  in  that  direction.  The  ram  measured 
a  terrific  assault  that  caught  the  second  fox 
in  the  side.  He  rolled  around  several  times 
before  he  got  to  his  feet  again  and  made 
his  escape.  The  boy  had  wished  that  the 
third  one,  too,  might  have  gotten  a  bump, 
but  this  one  had  already  gone. 

"Now  I  think  that  they've  had  enough  for 
to-night,"  said  the  boy.  "I  think  so  too," 
said  the  big  ram.  "  Now  lie  down  on  my  back, 
and  creep  into  the  wool!  You  deserve  to 
have  it  warm  and  comfortable,  after  all  the 
wind  and  storm  that  you  have  been  out  in." 

hell's  hole 

The  next  day  the  big  ram  went  around  w4th 
the  boy  on  his  back,  and  showed  him  the 
island.  It  consisted  of  a  single  massive 
mountain.  It  was  like  a  large  house  with 
oerpendicular  walls  and  a  flat  roof.  First 
the  ram  walked  up  on  the  mountain-roof  and 
showed  the  boy  the  good  grazing  lands  there ; 
and  he  had  to  admit  that  the  island  seemed 
to   be   especially   created   for   sheep.     There 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  267 

wasn't  much  else  than  sheep-sorrel  and  such 
little  spicy  growths  as  sheep  are  fond  of 
that  grew  on  the  mountain. 

But  indeed  there  was  something  beside 
sheep  fodder  to  look  at,  for  one  who  had 
gotten  well  up  on  the  steep.  To  begin  with, 
the  largest  part  of  the  sea — which  now  lay 
blue  and  sunlit,  and  rolled  forward  in  glitter- 
ing swells — was  visible.  Only  upon  one  and 
another  point,  did  the  foam  spray  up.  To 
the  east  lay  Gottland,  with  even  and  long- 
stretched  coast;  and  to  the  southwest  lay 
Great  Karl's  Island,  which  was  built  on  the 
same  plan  as  the  little  island.  When  the 
ram  walked  to  the  very  edge  of  the  moun- 
tain roof,  so  the  boy  could  look  down  the 
mountain  walls,  he  noticed  that  they  were 
simply  filled  with  birds'  nests;  and  in  the 
blue  sea  beneath  him,  lay  surf-scoters  and 
eider-ducks  and  kittiwakes  and  guillemots 
and  razor-bills — so  pretty  and  peaceful — 
busying  themselves  with  fishing  for  small 
herring. 

"This  is  really  a  favoured  land,"  said  the 
boy.     "  You  live  in  a  pretty  place,  you  sheep.'* 


.^-Vt 


/'. 


268  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"Oh,  yes!  it's  pretty  enough  here,"  said  the 
big  ram.  It  was  as  if  he  wished  to  add 
something;  but  he  did  not,  only  sighed. 
"  If  you  go  about  here  alone  you  must 
look  out  for  the  crevices  which  run  all  around 
the  mountain,"  he  continued  after  a  little. 
And  this  was  a  good  warning,  for  there  were 
deep  and  broad  crevices  in  several  places. 
The  largest  of  them  was  called  Hell's  Hole. 
That  crevice  was  many  fathoms  deep  and 
nearly  one  fathom  wide.  "  If  anyone  fell 
down  there,  it  would  certainly  be  the  last  of 
him,"  said  the  big  ram.  The  boy  thought  it 
sounded  as  if  he  had  a  special  meaning  in 
what  he  said. 

Then  he  conducted  the  boy  down  to  the 
narrow  strip  of  shore.  Now  he  could  see 
those  giants  which  had  frightened  him  the 
night  before,  at  close  range.  They  were 
nothing  but  tall  rock-pillars.  The  big  ram 
called  them  "cliffs."  The  boy  couldn't  see 
enough  of  them.  He  thought  that  if  there 
had  ever  been  any  trolls  who  had  turned 
into  stone  they  ought  to  look  just  like  that. 

Although  it  was  pretty  down  on  the  shore, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  269 

the  boy  liked  it  still  better  on  the  mountain 
height.  It  was  ghastly  down  here ;  for  every- 
where they  came  across  dead  sheep.  It  was 
here  that  the  foxes  had  held  their  orgies. 
He  saw  skeletons  whose  flesh  had  been  eaten, 
and  bodies  that  were  half-eaten,  and  others 
which  they  had  scarcely  tasted,  but  had 
allowed  to  lie  untouched.  It  was  heart-rend- 
ing to  see  how  the  wild  beasts  had  thrown 
themselves  upon  the  sheep  just  for  sport — 
just  to  hunt  them  and  tear  them  to  death. 

The  big  ram  did  not  pause  in  front  of  the 
dead,  but  walked  by  them  in  silence.  But 
the  boy,  meanwhile,  could  not  help  seeing  all 
the  horror. 

Then  the  big  ram  went  up  on  the  mountain 
height  again;  but  when  he  was  there  he 
stopped  and  said:  "If  someone  who  is 
capable  and  wise  could  see  all  the  misery 
which  prevails  here,  he  surely  would  not  be 
able  to  rest  until  these  foxes  had  been  pun- 
ished." "The  foxes  must  live,  too,"  said  the 
boy.  "Yes,"  said  the  big  ram,  "those  who 
do  not  tear  in  pieces  more  animals  than  they 
need  for  their  sustenance,  they  may  as  well 


270  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

live.  But  these  are  felons."  "The  peasants 
who  own  the  island  ought  to  come  here  and 
help  you,"  insisted  the  boy.  "They  have 
rowed  over  a  number  of  times,"  replied  the 
ram,  "but  the  foxes  always  hid  themselves 
in  the  grottoes  and  crevices,  so  they  could  not 
get  near  them,  to  shoot  them."  "  You  surely 
cannot  mean,  father,  that  a  poor  little  creature 
like  me  should  be  able  to  get  at  them,  when 
neither  you  nor  the  peasants  have  succeeded 
in  getting  the  better  of  them."  "He  that  is 
little  and  spry  can  put  many  things  to  rights," 
said  the  big  ram." 

They  talked  no  more  about  this,  and  the  boy 
went  over  and  seated  himself  among  the  wild 
geese  who  fed  on  the  highland.  Although 
he  had  not  cared  to  show  his  feelings  before 
the  ram,  he  was  very  sad  on  the  sheep's 
account,  and  he  would  have  been  glad  to 
help  them.  "  I  can  at  least  talk  with  Akka 
and  Morten  goosey-gander  about  the  matter," 
thought  he.  "Perhaps  they  can  help  me  with 
a  good  suggestion." 

A  little  later  the  white  goosey-gander  took 
the    boy  on    his  back    and  went    over    the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  271 

mountain  plain,  and  in  the  direction  of  Hell's 
Hole  at  that. 

He  wandered,  care-free,  on  the  open  moun- 
tain roof — apparently  unconscious  of  how- 
large  and  white  he  was.  He  didn't  seek  pro- 
tection behind  tufts,  or  any  other  protuber- 
ances, but  went  straight  ahead.  It  was 
strange  that  he  was  not  more  careful,  for  it 
was  apparent  that  he  had  fared  badly  in 
yesterday's  storm.  He  limped  on  his  right 
leg,  and  the  left  wing  hung  and  dragged  as 
if  it  might  be  broken. 

He  acted  as  if  there  were  no  danger,  pecked 
at  a  grass-blade  here  and  another  there,  and 
did  not  look  about  him  in  any  direction.  The 
boy  lay  stretched  out  full  length  on  the 
goose-back,  and  looked  up  toward  the  blue 
sky.  He  was  so  accustomed  to  riding  now, 
that  he  could  both  stand  and  lie  down  on  the 
goose-back. 

When  the  goosey-gander  and  the  boy  were 
so  care-free,  they  did  not  observe,  of  course, 
that  the  three  foxes  had  come  up  on  the 
mountain  plain. 

And  the  foxes,  who  knew  that  it  was  well- 


272  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

nigh  impossible  to  take  the  life  of  a  goose  on 
an  open  plain,  thought  at  first  that  they 
wouldn't  chase  after  the  goosey-gander.  But 
as  they  had  nothing  else  to  do,  they  finally 
sneaked  down  on  one  of  the  long  passes,  and 
tried  to  steal  up  to  him.  They  went  about  it 
so  cautiously  that  the  goosey-gander  couldn't 
see  a  shadow  of  them. 

They  were  not  far  off  when  the  goosey- 
gander  made  an  attempt  to  raise  himself 
into  the  air.  He  spread  his  wings,  but  he  did 
not  succeed  in  lifting  himself.  When  the 
foxes  seemed  to  grasp  the  fact  that  he 
couldn't  fly,  they  hurried  forward  with  greater 
eagerness  than  before.  They  no  longer  con- 
cealed themselves  in  the  cleft,  but  came  up 
on  the  highland.  They  hurried  as  fast  as 
they  could,  behind  tufts  and  hollows,  and 
came  nearer  and  nearer  the  goosey-gander — 
without  his  seeming  to  notice  that  he  was 
being  hunted.  At  last  the  foxes  were  so  near 
that  they  could  make  the  final  leap.  Simul- 
taneously, all  three  threw  themselves,  with 
one  long  jump  at  the  goosey-gander. 

But  still  at  the  last  moment  he  must  have 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


273 


noticed  something,  for  he  ran  out  of  the  way, 
so  the  foxes  missed  him.  This,  at  any  rate, 
didn't  mean  very  much,  for  the  goosey-gander 
only  had  a  couple  of  metres  headway,  and, 
in  the  bargain,  he  limped.  Anyway,  the  poor 
thing  ran  ahead  as  fast  as  he  could. 

The  boy  sat  upon  the  goose-back — ^back- 
ward— and  shrieked  and  called  to  the  foxes. 
"You  have  eaten  yourselves  too  fat  on  mut- 
ton, foxes.  You  can't  catch  up  with  a  goose 
even."  He  teased  them  so  that  they  became 
crazed  with  rage  and  thought  only  of  rushing 
forward. 

The  white  one  ran  right  straight  to  the  big 
cleft.  When  he  was  there,  he  made  one 
stroke  with  his  wings,  and  got  over.  Just 
then  the  foxes  were  almost  upon  him. 

The  goosey-gander  hurried  on  with  the  same 
haste  as  before,  even  after  he  had  gotten 
across  Hell's  Hole.  But  he  had  hardly  been 
running  two  metres  before  the  boy  patted  him 
on  the  neck,  and  said:  "Now  you  can  stop, 
goosey-gander. ' ' 

At  that  instant  they  heard  a  number  of 
wild  howls  behind  them,  and  a  scraping  of 


274  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

claws,  and  heavy  falls.  But  of  the  foxes  they 
saw  nothing  more. 

The  next  morning  the  lighthouse  keeper  on 
Great  Karl's  Island  found  a  bit  of  bark  poked 
under  the  entrance-door,  and  on  it  had  been 
cut,  in  slanting,  angular  letters:  "The  foxes 
on  the  little  island  have  fallen  down  into 
Hell's  Hole.     Take  care  of  them!" 

And  this  the  lighthouse  keeper  did,  too. 


XIV 
TWO  CITIES 

THE  CITY  AT  THE  BOTTOM  OF  THE  SEA 

Saturday,  April  ninth. 

IT  WAS  a  calm  and  clear  night.  The  wild 
geese  did  not  trouble  themselves  to  seek 
shelter  in  any  of  the  grottoes,  but  stood  and 
slept  up  on  the  mountain  top ;  and  the  boy  had 
lain  down  in  the  short,  dry  grass  beside  the 
geese. 

It  was  bright  moonlight  that  night;  so 
bright  that  it  was  difficult  for  the  boy  to  go 
to  sleep.  He  lay  there  and  thought  about 
just  how  long  he  had  been  away  from  home; 
and  he  figured  out  that  it  was  three  weeks 
since  he  had  started  on  the  trip.  At  the 
same  time  he  remembered  that  this  was 
Easter-eve. 

"It  is  to-night  that  all  the  witches  come 
home  from  Blakulla,"  thought  he,  and  laughed 

27s 


2  76  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

to  himself.  For  he  was  just  a  little  afraid  of 
both  the  sea-nymph  and  the  elf,  but  he  didn't 
believe  in  witches  the  least  little  bit. 

If  there  had  been  any  witches  out  that 
night,  he  should  have  seen  them,  to  be  sure. 
It  was  so  light  in  the  heavens  that  not  the 
tiniest  black  speck  could  move  in  the  air 
without  his  seeing  it. 

While  the  boy  lay  there  with  his  nose  in 
the  air  and  thought  about  this,  his  eye  rested 
on  something  lovely!  The  moon's  disc  was 
whole  and  round,  and  rather  high,  and  over 
it  a  big  bird  came  flying.  He  did  not  fly 
past  the  moon,  but  he  moved  just  as  though 
he  might  have  flown  out  from  it.  The  bird 
looked  black  against  the  light  background, 
and  the  wings  extended  from  one  rim  of  the 
disc  to  the  other.  He  flew  on,  evenly,  in  the 
same  direction,  and  the  boy  thought  that  he 
was  painted  on  the  moon's  disc.  The  body 
was  small,  the  neck  long  and  slender,  the  legs 
hung  down,  long  and  thin.  It  couldn't  be 
anything  but  a  stork. 

A  couple  of  seconds  later  Herr  Ermenrich, 
the  stork,  lit  beside  the  boy.     He  bent  down 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  277 

and  poked  him  with  his  bill  to  awaken 
him. 

Instantly  the  boy  sat  up.  "  I'm  not  asleep, 
Herr  Ermenrich,"  he  said.  "How  does  it 
happen  that  you  are  out  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  how  is  everything  at  Glimminge 
castle  ?  Do  you  want  to  speak  with  mother 
Akka?" 

"It's  too  light  to  sleep  to-night,"  answered 
Herr  Ermenrich.  "Therefore  I  concluded 
to  travel  over  here  to  Karl's  Island  and  hunt 
you  up,  friend  Thumb ie tot.  I  learned  from 
the  seamew  that  you  were  spending  the  night 
here.  I  have  not  as  yet  moved  over  to  Glim- 
minge castle,  but  am  still  living  at  Pommern." 

The  boy  was  simply  overjoyed  to  think 
that  Herr  Ermenrich  had  sought  him  out. 
They  chatted  about  all  sorts  of  things,  like 
old  friends.  At  last  the  stork  asked  the  boy 
if  he  wouldn't  like  to  go  out  riding  for  a  while 
on  this  beautiful  night. 

Oh,  yes!  that  the  boy  wanted  to  do,  if  the 
stork  wotild  manage  it  so  that  he  got  back  to 
the  wild  geese  before  sunrise.  This  he  prom- 
ised, so  off  they  went. 


278  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Again  Herr  Ermenrich  flew  straight  toward 
the  moon.  They  rose  and  rose;  the  sea  sank 
deep  down,  but  the  flight  went  so  Hght  and 
easy  that  it  seemed  almost  as  if  the  boy  lay 
still  in  the  air. 

When  Herr  Ermenrich  began  to  descend, 
the  boy  thought  that  the  flight  had  lasted  an 
unreasonably  short  time. 

They  landed  on  a  desolate  bit  of  seashore, 
which  was  covered  with  fine,  even  sand. 
All  along  the  coast  ran  a  row  of  flying-sand 
drifts,  with  h^me-grass  on  their  tops.  They 
were  not  very  high,  but  they  prevented  the 
boy  from  seeing  any  of  the  island. 

Herr  Ermenrich  stood  on  a  sand-hill,  drew 
up  one  leg  and  bent  his  head  backward,  so  he 
could  stick  his  bill  under  the  wing.  "You 
can  roam  around  on  the  shore  for  a  while," 
he  said  to  Thumb ietot,  "while  I  rest  myself. 
But  don't  go  so  far  away  but  what  you  can 
find  your  way  back  to  me  again ! ' ' 

To  start  with,  the  boy  intended  to  clitnb 
a  sand-hill  and  see  how  the  land  behind  it 
looked.  But  when  he  had  walked  a  couple 
of  paces,  he  stubbed  the  toe  of  his  wooden 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  279 

shoe  against  something  hard.  He  stooped 
down,  and  saw  that  a  small  copper  coin  lay 
on  the  sand,  and  was  so  worn  with  verdi- 
gris that  it  was  almost  transparent.  It  was 
so  poor  that  he  didn't  even  bother  to  pick 
it  up,  but  only  kicked  it  out  of  the  way. 

But  when  he  straightened  himself  up  once 
more  he  was  perfectly  astounded,  for  two 
paces  away  from  him  stood  a  high,  dark  wall 
with  a  big,  turreted  gate. 

The  moment  before,  when  the  boy  bent 
down,  the  sea  lay  there — shimmering  and 
smooth,  while  now  it  was  hidden  by  a  long 
wall  with  towers  and  battlements.  Di- 
rectly in  front  of  him,  where  before  there 
had  been  only  a  few  sea-weed  banks,  the 
big  gate  of  the  wall  opened. 

The  Do}^  probably  understood  that  it  was 
a  .spectre-play  of  some  sort;  but  this  was 
nothing  to  be  afraid  of,  thought  he.  It  wasn't 
any  dangerous  trolls,  or  any  other  evil — such 
as  he  always  dreaded  to  encounter  at  night. 
Both  the  wall  and  the  gate  were  so  beautifully 
constructed  that  he  only  desired  to  see  what 
there  might  be  back  of  them.     "  I  must  find 


28o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

out  what  this  can  be,"  thought  he,  and  went 
in  through  the  gate. 

In  the  deep  archway  there  were  guards, 
dressed  in  brocaded  and  puffed  suits,  with 
long-handled  spears  beside  them,  who  sat 
and  threw  dice.  They  thought  only  of  the 
game,  and  took  no  notice  of  the  boy  who 
hurried  past  them  quickly. 

Just  within  the  gate  he  found  an  open 
space,  paved  with  large,  even  stone  blocks. 
All  around  this  were  high  and  magnificent 
buildings;  and  between  these  opened  long, 
narrow  streets.  On  the  square — facing  the 
gate — it  fairly  swarmed  with  human  beings. 
The  men  wore  long,  fur-trimmed  capes  over 
satin  suits ;  plume-bedecked  hats  sat  obliquely 
on  their  heads;  on  their  chests  hung  superb 
chains.  They  were  all  so  regally  gotten  up 
that  the  whole  lot  of  them  might  have  been 
kings. 

The  women  went  about  in  high  head- 
dresses and  long  robes  with  tight-fitting 
sleeves.  They,  too,  were  beautifully  dressed, 
but  their  splendour  was  not  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  the  men. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  281 

This  was  exactly  like  the  old  story-book 
which    mother    took    from    the    chest— only 
once — and  showed  to  him.     The  boy  simply 
couldn't  believe  his  eyes. 

But  that  which  was  even  more  wonderful  to 
look  upon  than  either  the  men  or  the  women, 
was  the  city  itself.  Every  house  was  built 
in  such  a  way  that  a  gable  faced  the  street. 
And  the  gables  were  so  highly  ornamented, 
that  one  could  believe  they  wished  to  compete 
with  each  other  as  to  which  one  could  show 
the  most  beautiful  decorations. 

When  one  suddenly  sees  so  much  that  is 
new,  he  cannot  manage  to  treasure  it  all  in 
his  memory.  But  at  least  the  boy  could 
recall  that  he  had  seen  stairway  gables  on  the 
various  landings,  which  bore  images  of  the 
Christ  and  his  Apostles;  gables,  where  there 
were  images  in  niche  after  niche  all  along 
the  wall;  gables  that  were  inlaid  with  multi- 
coloured bits  of  glass,  and  gables  that  were 
striped  and  checked  with  white  and  black 
marble.  As  the  boy  admired  all  this,  a  sud- 
den sense  of  haste  came  over  him.  "Any- 
thing like  this  my  eyes  have  never  seen  before. 


282  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Anything  like  this,  they  would  never  see 
again,"  he  said  to  himself.  And  he  began  to 
run  in  toward  the  city — up  one  street,  and 
down  another. 

The  streets  were  straight  and  narrow, 
but  not  empty  and  gloomy,  as  they  were  in 
the  cities  with  which  he  was  familiar.  There 
were  people  ever}- where.  Old  women  sat 
by  their  open  doors  and  spun  without  a  spin- 
ning-wheel— only  with  the  help  of  a  shuttle. 
The  merchants'  shops  were  like  market-stalls 
— opening  on  the  street.  All  the  hand- 
workers did  their  work  out  of  doors.  In  one 
place  they  were  boiling  crude  oil;  in  another 
tanning  hides;  in  a  third  there  was  a  long 
rope- walk. 

If  only  the  boy  had  had  time  enough  he 
could  have  learned  how  to  make  all  sorts  of 
things.  Here  he  saw  how  amiourers  ham- 
mered out  thin  breast-plates;  how  turners 
tended  their  irons;  how  the  shoemakers  soled 
soft,  red  shoes;  how  the  gold- wire  drawers 
twisted  gold  thread,  and  how  the  weavers 
inserted  silver  and  gold  into  their  weaving. 

But  the  boy  did  not  have  the  time  to  stay. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  283 

He  just  rushed  on,  so  that  he  could  manage 
to  see  as  much  as  possible  before  it  would  all 
vanish  again. 

The  high  wall  ran  all  round  the  city  and 
shut  it  in,  as  a  hedge  shuts  in  a  field.  He 
saw  it  at  the  end  of  every  street — ^gable 
ornamented  and  crenulated.  On  the  top  of 
the  wall  walked  warriors  in  shining  armour; 
and  when  he  had  run  from  one  end  of  the  city 
to  the  other,  he  came  to  still  another  gate  in 
the  wall.  Outside  of  this  lay  the  sea  and 
harbour.  The  boy  saw  olden-time  ships, 
with  rowing -benches  straight  across,  and  high 
structures  fore  and  aft.  Some  lay  and  took 
on  cargo,  others  were  just  casting  anchor. 
Carriers  and  merchants  hurried  around  each 
other.     All  over,  it  was  life  and  bustle. 

But  not  even  here  did  he  seem  to  have  the 
time  to  linger.  He  rushed  into  the  city 
again;  and  now  he  came  up  to  the  big  square. 
There  stood  the  cathedral  with  itvS  three  high 
towers  and  deep  vaulted  arches  filled  with 
images.  The  walls  had  been  so  highly  deco- 
rated by  sculptors  that  there  was  not  a  stone 
without  its  own  special  ornamentation.    And 


284  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

what  a  magnificent  display  of  gilded  crosses 
and  gold-trimmed  altars  and  priests  in  golden 
vestments,  shimmered  through  the  open  gate! 
Directly  opposite  the  church  there  was  a 
house  with  a  notched  roof  and  a  single  slen- 
der, sky-high  tower.  That  was  probably 
the  courthouse.  And  between  the  court- 
house and  the  cathedral,  all  around  the 
square,  stood  the  beautiful  gabled  houses 
with  their  multiplicity  of  adornments. 

The  boy  had  run  himself  both  warm  and 
tired.  He  thought  that  now  he  had  seen  the 
most  remarkable  things,  and  therefore  he 
began  to  walk  more  leisurely.  The  street 
which  he  had  turned  into  now  was  surely 
the  one  where  the  inhabitants  purchased 
their  fine  clothing.  He  saw  crowds  of  people 
standing  before  the  little  stalls  where  the 
merchants  spread  brocades,  stiff  satins,  heavy 
gold  cloth,  shimmery  velvet,  delica+e  veiling, 
and  laces  as  sheer  as  a  spider's  web. 

Before,  when  the  boy  ran  so  fast,  no  one 
had  paid  any  attention  to  him.  The  people 
must  have  thought  that  it  was  only  a  little 
gray  rat   that   darted   by   them.     But  now, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  285 

when  he  walked  down  the  street,  very  slowly, 
one  of  the  salesmen  caught  sight  of  him,  and 
began  to  beckon  to  him. 

At  first  the  boy  was  uneasy  and  wanted  to 
hurry  out  of  the  way,  but  the  salesman  only 
beckoned  and  smiled,  and  spread  out  on  the 
counter  a  lovely  piece  of  satin  damask  as 
if  he  wanted  to  tempt  him. 

The  boy  shook  his  head.  "I  will  never  be 
so  rich  that  I  can  buy  even  a  metre  of  that 
cloth,"  thought  he. 

But  now  they  had  caught  sight  of  him  in 
every  stall,  all  along  the  street.  Wherever 
he  looked  stood  a  salesman  and  beckoned 
to  him.  They  left  their  costly  wares,  and 
thought  only  of  him.  He  saw  how  they  hur- 
ried into  the  most  hidden  corner  of  the  stall 
to  fetch  the  best  that  they  had  to  sell,  and 
how  their  hands  trembled  with  eagerness 
and  haste  as  they  laid  it  upon  the  counter. 

When  the  boy  continued  to  go  on,  one  of 
the  merchants  jumped  over  the  counter, 
caught  hold  of  him,  and  spread  before  him 
silver  cloth  and  woven  tapestries,  which  shone 
with  brilliant  colours. 


286  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  boy  couldn't  do  anything  but  laugh  at 
him.  The  salesman  certainly  must  under- 
stand that  a  poor  little  creature  like  him 
couldn't  buy  such  things.  He  stood  still 
and  held  out  his  two  empty  hands,  so  they 
would  understand  that  he  had  nothing 
and  let  him  go  in  peace. 

But  the  merchant  raised  a  finger  and  nodded 
and  pushed  the  whole  pile  of  beautiful  things 
over  to  him. 

"  Can  he  mean  that  he  will  sell  all  this  for 
a  gold  piece?"  wondered  the  boy. 

The  merchant  brought  out  a  tiny  worn 
and  poor  coin — the  smallest  that  one  could 
see — and  showed  it  to  him.  And  he  was  so 
eager  to  sell  that  he  increased  his  pile  with 
a  pair  of  large,  heavy,  silver  goblets. 

Then  the  boy  began  to  dig  down  in  his 
pockets.  He  knew,  of  course,  that  he  didn't 
possess  a  single  coin,  but  he  couldn't  help 
feeling  for   it. 

All  the  other  merchants  stood  still  and 
tried  to  see  how  the  sale  would  come  off, 
and  when  they  observed  that  the  boy  began 
to  search  in  his  pockets,  they  flung  themselves 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  287 

over  the  counters,  filled  their  hands  full  of 
gold  and  silver  ornaments,  and  offered  them 
to  him.  And  they  all  showed  him  that  what 
they  asked  in  payment  was  just  one  little 
penny. 

But  the  boy  turned  both  vest  and  breeches 
pockets  inside  out,  so  they  should  see  that 
he  owned  nothing.  Then  tears  filled  the  eyes 
of  all  these  regal  merchants,  who  were  so 
much  richer  than  he.  At  last  he  was  moved 
because  they  looked  so  distressed,  and  he 
pondered  if  he  could  not  in  some  way  help 
them.  And  then  he  happened  to  think  of 
the  rusty  coin,  which  he  had  but  lately  seen 
on  the  strand. 

He  started  to  run  down  the  street,  and  luck 
was  with  him  so  that  he  came  to  the  self- 
same gate  which  he  had  happened  upon  first. 
He  dashed  through  it,  and  commenced  to 
search  for  the  little  green  copper  penny 
which  lay  on  the  strand  a  while  ago. 

He  found  it  too,  very  promptly;  but  when 
he  had  picked  it  up,  and  wanted  to  run  back 
to  the  city  with  it — ^he  saw  only  the  sea  before 
him.     No  city   wall,  no  gate,  no    sentinels, 


288  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

no  streets,  no  houses  could  now  be  seen — 
only  the  sea. 

The  boy  couldn't  help  that  the  tears  came 
to  his  eyes.  He  had  believed  in  the  beginning, 
that  that  which  he  saw  was  nothing  but  an 
hallucination,  but  this  he  had  already  for- 
gotten. He  only  thought  about  how  pretty 
everything  was.  He  felt  a  genuine,  deep 
sorrow  because  the  city  had  vanished. 

That  moment  Herr  Ermenrich  awoke,  and 
came  up  to  him.  But  he  didn't  hear  him, 
and  the  stork  had  to  poke  the  boy  with  his  bill 
to  attract  attention  to  himself.  "I  believe 
that  you  stand  here  and  sleep  just  as  I  do," 
said  Herr  Ermenrich. 

"Oh,  Herr  Ermenrich!  "said  the  boy.  "What 
was  that  city  which   stood  here  just  now?" 

"Have  you  seen  a  city?"  said  the  stork. 
"You  have  slept  and  dreamt,  as  I  say." 

"  No !  I  have  not  dreamt,"  said  Thumbietot, 
and  he  told  the  stork  all  that  he  had 
experienced. 

Then  Herr  Ermenrich  said :  "  For  my  part, 
Thumbietot,  I  believe  that  you  fell  asleep 
here   on   the   strand   and   dreamed   all   this. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  289 

But  I  will  not  conceal  from  you  that  Bataki, 
the  raven,  who  is  the  most  learned  of  all 
birds,  once  told  me  that  in  former  times  there 
was  a  city  on  this  shore,  called  Vineta.  It 
was  so  rich  and  so  fortunate,  that  no  city  has 
ever  been  more  glorious;  but  its  inhabitants, 
unluckily,  gave  themselves  up  to  arrogance 
and  love  of  display.  As  a  punishment  for 
this,  says  Bataki,  the  city  of  Vineta  was  over- 
taken by  a  flood,  and  sank  into  the  sea.  But 
these  inhabitants  cannot  die,  neither  is  their 
city  destroyed.  And  one  night  in  every 
hundred  years,  it  rises  in  all  its  splendour  up 
from  the  sea,  and  remains  on  the  surface 
just  one  hour." 

"Yes,  it  must  be  so,"  said  Thumbietot, 
"for  this  I  have  seen." 

"But  when  the  hour  is  up,  it  sinks  again 
into  the  sea,  if,  during  that  time,  no  merchant 
in  Vineta  has  sold  anything  to  a  single  living 
creature.  If  you,  Thumbietot,  only  had  had 
an  ever  so  tiny  coin,  to  pay  the  merchants, 
Vineta  might  have  remained  up  here  on  the 
shore;  and  its  people  could  have  lived  and 
died  like  other  human  beings." 


290  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"Herr  Ermenrich,"  said  the  boy,  "now  I 
understand  why  you  came  and  fetched  me  in 
the  middle  of  the  night.  It  was  because  you 
believed  that  I  should  be  able  to  save  the  old 
city.  I  am  so  sorry  it  didn't  turn  out  as  you 
wished,   Herr  Ermenrich." 

He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands  and 
wept.  It  wasn't  easy  to  say  which  one  looked 
the  more  disconsolate — the  boy,  or  Herr 
Ermenrich. 

THE    LIVING    CITY 

Monday,  April  eleventh. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Easter  Monday,  the 
wild  geese  and  Thumbietot  were  on  the  wing. 
They  travelled  over  Gottland. 

The  large  island  lay  smooth  and  even 
beneath  them.  The  ground  was  checked 
just  as  it  was  in  Skane  and  there  were 
many  churches  and  farms.  But  there  was 
this  difference,  however,  that  there  were 
more  leafy  meadows  between  the  fields  here, 
and  then  the  farms  were  not  built  up  with 
small  houses.  And  there  were  no  large  manors 
with   ancient  tower-ornamented   castles. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  291 

The  wild  geese  had  taken  the  route  over 
Gottland  on  account  of  Thumbietot.  He 
had  been  altogether  unlike  himself  for  two 
days,  and  hadn't  spoken  a  cheerful  word. 
This  was  because  he  had  thought  of  nothing 
but  that  city  which  had  appeared  to  him  in 
such  a  strange  way.  He  had  never  seen  any- 
thing so  magnificent  and  royal,  and  he  could 
not  be  reconciled  with  himself  for  having 
failed  to  save  it.  Usually  he  was  not  chicken- 
hearted,  but  now  he  actually  grieved  for  the 
beautiful  buildings  and  the  stately  people. 

Both  Akka  and  the  goosey-gander  tried 
to  convince  Thumbietot  that  he  had  been  the 
victim  of  a  dream,  or  an  hallucination,  but  the 
boy  wouldn't  listen  to  anything  of  that  sort. 
He  was  so  positive  that  he  had  really  seen 
what  he  had  seen,  that  no  one  could  move 
him  from  this  conviction.  He  went  about 
so  disconsolate  that  his  travelling  companions 
became  uneasy  for  him. 

Just  as  the  boy  was  the  most  depressed, 
old  Kaksi  came  back  to  the  flock.  She  had 
been  blown  toward  Gottland,  and  had  been 
compelled  to  travel  over  the   whole    island 


292  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS. 

before  she  had  learned  through  some  crows 
that  her  comrades  were  on  Little  Karl's 
Island.  When  Kaksi  found  out  what  was 
wrong  with  Thumb ietot,  she  said  impulsively: 
.  "If  Thumbietot  is  grieving  over  an  old 
city,  we'll  soon  be  able  to  comfort  him.  Just 
come  along,  and  I'll  take  you  to  a  place  that 
I  saw  yesterday!  You  will  not  need  to  be 
distressed  very  long." 

Thereupon  the  geese  had  taken  farewell 
of  the  sheep,  and  were  on  their  way  to  the 
place  which  Kaksi  wished  to  show  Thumbietot. 
As  blue  as  he  was,  he  couldn't  keep  from  look- 
ing at  the  land  over  which  he  travelled,  as 
usual. 

He  thought  it  looked  as  though  the  whole 
island  had  in  the  beginning  been  just  such  a 
high,  steep  cliff  as  Karl's  Island^though 
much  bigger  of  course.  But  afterward,  it 
had  in  some  way  been  flattened  out.  Some- 
one had  taken  a  big  rolling-pin  and  rolled 
over  it,  as  if  it  had  been  a  lump  of  dough. 
Not  that  the  island  had  become  altogether  flat 
and  even,  like  a  bread-cake,  for  it  wasn't  like 
that.  While  they  had  travelled  along  the  coast, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  293 

he  had  seen  white  Hnie  walls  with  grottoes  and 
crags,  in  several  directions;  but  in  most  of 
the  places  they  were  levelled,  and  sank 
inconspicuously  down  toward  the  sea. 

In  Gottland  they  had  a  pleasant  and  peace- 
ful holiday  afternoon.  It  turned  out  to  be 
mild  spring  weather;  the  trees  had  large 
buds;  spring  blossoms  dressed  the  ground  in 
the  leafy  meadows;  the  poplars'  long,  thin 
pendants  swayed;  and  in  the  little  gardens, 
which  one  finds  around  every  cottage,  the 
gooseberry  bushes  were  green. 

The  warmth  and  the  spring-budding  had 
tempted  the  people  out  into  the  gardens  and 
roads,  and  wherever  a  number  of  them  were 
gathered  together  they  were  playing.  It  was 
not  the  children  alone  who  played,  but  the 
grown-ups  also.  They  were  throwing  stones 
at  a  given  point,  and  they  threw  balls  in  the 
air  with  such  exact  aim  that  they  almost 
touched  the  wild  geese.  It  looked  cheerful 
and  pleasant  to  see  big  folks  at  play ;  and  the 
boy  certainly  would  have  enjoyed  it,  if  he  had 
oeen  able  to  forget  his  grief  because  he  had 
failed  to  save  the  city. 


294  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Anyway,  he  had  to  admit  that  this  was  a 
lovely  trip.  There  was  so  much  singing  and 
sound  in  the  air.  Little  children  played 
ring  games,  and  sang  as  they  played.  The 
Salvation  Army  was  out.  He  saw  a  lot  of 
people  dressed  in  black  and  red — sitting  upon 
a  wooded  hill,  playing  on  guitars  and  brass 
instruments.  On  one  road  came  a  great  crowd 
of  people.  They  were  Good  Templars  who  had 
been  on  a  pleasure  trip.  He  recognised  them 
by  the  big  banners  with  the  gold  inscriptions 
which  waved  above  them.  They  sang  song 
after  song  as  long  as  he  could  hear  them. 

After  that  the  boy  could  never  think  of 
Gottland  without  thinking  of  the  games  and 
songs  at  the  same  time. 

He  had  been  sitting  and  looking  down  for 
a  long  while;  but  now  he  happened  to  raise 
his  eyes.  No  one  can  describe  his  amazement. 
Before  he  was  aware  of  it,  the  wild  geese  had 
left  the  interior  of  the  island  and  gone  west- 
ward— toward  the  sea-coast.  Now  the  wide, 
blue  sea  lay  before  him.  However,  it  was 
not  the  sea  that  was  remarkable,  but  a  city 
which  appeared  on  the  sea-shore. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  295 

The  boy  came  from  the  east,  and  the  sun 
had  just  begun  to  go  down  in  the  west. 
When  he  came  nearer  the  city,  its  walls  and 
towers  and  high,  gabled  houses  and  churches 
stood  there,  perfectly  black,  against  the  light 
evening  sky.  He  couldn't  see  therefore  what 
it  really  looked  like,  and  for  a  couple  of 
moments  he  believed  that  this  city  was  just  as 
beautiful  as  the  one  he  had  seen  on  Easter 
night. 

When  he  got  right  up  to  it,  he  saw  that  it 
was  both  like  and  unlike  that  city  from  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.  There  was  the  same 
contrast  between  them,  as  there  is  between  a 
man  whom  one  sees  arrayed  in  purple  and 
jewels  one  day,  and  on  another  day  one  sees  him 
dressed  in  rags. 

Yes,  this  city  had  probably,  once  upon  a 
time,  been  like  the  one  which  he  sat  and 
thought  about.  This  one,  also,  was  enclosed 
by  a  wall  with  towers  and  gates.  But  the 
towers  in  this  city,  which  had  been  allowed 
to  remain  on  land,  were  roofless,  hollow  and 
empty.  The  gates  were  without  doors;  sen- 
tinels   and    warriors    had    disappeared.     All 


296  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

the  glittering  splendour  was  gone.  There  was 
nothing  left  but  the  naked,  gray  stone  skeleton. 

When  the  boy  came  farther  into  the  city, 
he  saw  that  the  larger  part  of  it  was  made 
up  of  small,  low  houses;  but  here  and  there 
were  still  a  few  high  gabled  houses  and 
a  few  cathedrals,  which  were  from  the  olden 
time.  The  walls  of  the  gabled  houses  were 
whitewashed,  and  entirely  without  ornamenta- 
tion; but  because  the  boy  had  so  lately  seen 
the  buried  city,  he  seemed  to  understand 
how  they  had  been  decorated:  some  with 
statues,  and  others  with  black  and  white 
marble.  And  it  was  the  same  with  the  old 
cathedrals;  the  majority  of  them  were  roof- 
less with  bare  interiors.  The  window  open- 
ings were  empty,  the  floors  were  grass-grown, 
and  ivy  clambered  along  the  walls.  But 
now  he  knew  how  they  had  looked  at  one 
time ;  that  they  had  been  covered  with  images 
and  paintings;  that  the  chancel  had  had 
trimmed  altars  and  gilded  crosses,  and  that 
there  priests  had  moved  about,  arrayed  in 
gold  vestments. 

The  boy  saw  also  the  narrow  streets,  which 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  297 

were  almost  deserted  on  holiday  afternoons. 
He  knew,  he  did,  what  a  stream  of  stately 
people  had  once  upon  a  time  sauntered  about 
on  them.  He  knew  that  they  had  been  like  large 
workshops — filled  with  all  sorts  of  workmen. 

But  that  which  Nils  Holgersson  did  not  see 
was,  that  the  city — even  to-day — was  both 
beautiful  and  remarkable.  He  saw  neither 
the  cheery  cottages  on  the  side  streets, 
with  their  black  walls,  and  white  bows  and 
red  pelargoniums  behind  the  shining  window- 
panes,  nor  the  many  pretty  gardens  and 
avenues,  nor  the  beauty  in  the  weed-clad 
ruins.  His  eyes  were  so  filled  with  the  pre- 
ceding glory,  that  he  could  not  see  anything 
good  in  the  present. 

The  wild  geese  flew  back  and  forth  over  the 
city  a  couple  of  times,  so  that  Thumbietot 
might  see  everything.  Finally  they  sank 
down  on  the  grass-grown  floor  of  a  cathedral 
ruin  to  spend  the  night. 

When  they  had  arranged  themselves  for 
sleep,  Thumbietot  was  still  awake  and  looked 
up  through  the  open  arches,  to  the  pale  pink 
evening  sky.     When  he  had  been  sitting  there 


298  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

a  while,  he  thought  he  didn't  want  to  gr  eve 
any  more  because  he  couldn't  save  the 
buried  city. 

No,  that  he  didn't  want  to  do,  now  that  he 
had  !^een  this  one.  If  that  city,  which  he 
had  seen,  had  not  sunk  into  the  sea  again, 
then  it  would  perhaps  become  as  dilapidated 
as  this  one  in  a  little  while.  Perhaps  it  could 
not  have  withstood  time  and  decay,  but  would 
have  stood  there  with  roofless  churches  and 
bare  houses  and  desolate,  empty  streets — just 
like  this  one.  Then  it  was  better  that  it  should 
remain  in  all  its  glory  down  in  the  deep. 

"  It  was  bCvSt  that  it  happened  as  it  hap- 
pened," thought  he.  "If  I  had  the  power  to 
save  the  city,  I  don't  believe  that  I  should 
care  to  do  it."  Then  he  no  longer  grieved 
over  that  matter. 

And  there  are  probably  many  among  the 
young  who  think  in  the  same  way.  But 
when  people  are  old,  and  have  become 
accustomed  to  being  satisfied  with  little,  then 
they  are  more  happy  over  the  Visby  that 
exists,  than  over  a  magnifient  Vineta  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea. 


XV 

THE  LEGEND  OF  SMALAND 

Tuesday,  April  twelfth. 

THE  wild  geese  had  made  a  good  trip  over 
the  sea,  and  had  hghted  in  Tjust 
Township,  in  northern  Smaland.  That  town- 
ship didn't  seem  able  to  make  up  its  mind 
whether  it  wanted  to  be  land  or  sea.  Fiords 
ran  in  everywhere,  and  cut  the  land  up 
into  islands  and  peninsulas  and  points  and 
capes.  The  sea  was  so  forceful  that  the 
only  things  which  could  hold  themselves 
above  it  were  hills  and  mountains.  All  the 
lowlands  were  hidden  away  under  the  water 
exterior. 

It  was  evening  when  the  wild  geese  came 
in  from  the  sea;  and  the  land  with  the  little 
hills  lay  prettily  between  the  shimmering 
fiords.  Here  and  there,  on  the  islands,  the  boy 
saw   cabins    and    cottages;    and    the   farther 

inland  he  came,  the  bigger  and  better  became 

299 


300  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

the  dwelling  houses.  Finally,  they  grew 
into  large,  white  manors.  Along  the  shores 
there  was  generally  a  border  of  trees;  and 
within  this  lay  field-plots,  and  on  the  tops  of 
the  little  hills  there  were  trees  again.  He 
could  not  help  but  think  of  Blekinge.  Here 
again  was  a  place  where  land  and  sea  met, 
in  such  a  pretty  and  peaceful  sort  of  way,  just 
as  if  they  tried  to  show  each  other  the  best 
and  loveliest  which  they  possessed. 

The  wild  geese  alighted  upon  a  limestone 
island  a  good  way  in  on  Goose-fiord.  With  the 
first  glance  at  the  shore  they  observed  that 
spring  had  made  rapid  strides  while  they  had 
been  away  on  the  islands.  The  big,  fine 
trees  were  not  as  yet  leaf -clad,  but  the 
ground  under  them  was  brocaded  with  white 
anemones,  gagea,  and  blue  anemones. 

When  the  wild  geese  saw  the  flower-carpet 
they  feared  that  they  had  lingered  too  long 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  country.  Akka 
said  instantly  that  there  was  no  time  in 
which  to  hunt  up  any  of  the  stopping  places 
in  Smaland,  By  the  next  morning  they 
must    travel   northward,    over    Ostergotland. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  301 

The  boy  should  then  see  nothing  of  Smaland, 
and  this  grieved  him.  He  had  heard  more 
about  Smaland  than  he  had  about  any  other 
province,  and  he  had  longed  to  see  it  with  his 
own  eyes. 

The  summer  before,  when  he  had  served 
as  goose-boy  with  a  farmer  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Jordberga,  he  had  met  a  pair  of 
Smaland  children,  almost  every  day,  who  also 
tended  geese.  These  children  had  irritated 
him  terribly  with  their  SmMand. 

It  wasn't  fair  to  say  that  Osa,  the  goose- 
girl,  had  annoyed  him.  She  was  much  too 
wise  for  that.  But  the  one  who  could  be 
aggravating  with  a  vengeance,  was  her  brother, 
little   Mats. 

"Have  you  heard.  Nils  Goose-boy,  how  it 
went  when  Smdland  and  Skane  were  created?" 
he  would  ask,  and  if  Nils  Holgersson  said  no, 
he  began  immediately  to  relate  the  old  joke- 
legend. 

"Well,  it  was  at  that  time  when  our  Lord 
was  creating  the  world.  While  he  was  doing 
his  best  work,  Saint  Peter  came  walking  by. 
He   stopped   and   looked    on,    and    then    he 


3<>2  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

asked  if  it  was  hard  to  do.  'Well,  it  isn't 
exactly  easy,'  said  our  Lord.  Saint  Peter 
stood  there  a  little  longer,  and  when  he  noticed 
how  easy  it  was  to  lay  out  one  landscape 
after  another,  he  too  wanted  to  try  his  hand 
at  it.  'Perhaps  you  need  to  rest  yourself 
a  little,'  said  Saint  Peter,  'I  could  attend  to 
the  work  in  the  meantime  for  you.'  But 
this  our  Lord  did  not  wish.  'I  do  not  know 
if  you  are  so  much  at  home  in  this  art  that  I 
can  trust  you  to  take  hold  where  I  leave 
off,'  he  answered.  Then  Saint  Peter  was 
angry,  and  said  that  he  believed  he  could 
create  just  as  fine  countries  as  our  Lord 
himself. 

"It  happened  that  our  Lord  was  just  then 
creating  Smaland.  It  wasn't  even  half-ready 
but  it  looked  as  though  it  would  be  an 
indescribably  pretty  and  fertile  land.  It  was 
difficult  for  our  Lord  to  say  no  to  Saint  Peter, 
and  aside  from  this,  he  thought  very  likely 
that  a  thing  so  well  begun  no  one  could  spoil. 
Therefore  he  said:  'If  you  like,  we  will 
prove  which  one  of  us  two  understands  this 
sort  of  work  the  better.     You,  who  are  only 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  303 

a  novice,  shall  go  on  with  this  which  I  have 
begun,  and  I  will  create  a  new  land.'  To  this 
Saint  Peter  agreed  at  once;  and  so  they 
went  to  work — each  one  in  his  place. 

"Our  Lord  moved  southward  a  bit,  and 
there  he  undertook  to  create  Skane.  It 
wasn't  long  before  he  was  through  with  it, 
and  soon  he  asked  if  Saint  Peter  had  finished, 
and  would  come  and  look  at  his  work.  T  had 
mine  ready  long  ago,'  said  Saint  Peter;  and 
from  the  sound  of  his  voice  it  could  be  heard 
how  pleased  he  was  with  what  he  had 
accomplished. 

"When  Saint  Peter  saw  Skane,  he  had  to 
acknowledge  that  there  was  nothing  but 
good  to  be  said  of  that  land.  It  was  a  fertile 
land  and  easy  to  cultivate,  with  wide  plains 
wherever  one  looked,  and  hardly  a  sign  of 
hills.  It  was  evident  that  our  Lord  had  really 
contemplated  making  it  such  that  people 
should  feel  at  home  there.  'Yes,  this  is  a 
good  country,'  said  Saint  Peter,  'but  I  think 
that  mine  is  better.'  'Then  we'll  take  a 
look  at  it,'  said  our  Lord. 

"The  land  was  already  finished  in  the  north 


304  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

and  east  when  Saint  Peter  began  the  work, 
but  the  southern  and  western  parts,  and  the 
whole  interior,  he  had  created  all  by  himself. 
Now  when  our  Lord  came  up  there,  where 
Saint  Peter  had  been  at  work,  he  was  so 
horrified  that  he  stopped  short  and  exclaimed : 
'What  on  earth  have  you  been  doing  with 
this  land.  Saint  Peter?' 

"  Saint  Peter,  too,  stood  and  looked  around — 
perfectly  astonished.  He  had  had  the  idea  that 
nothing  could  be  so  good  for  a  land  as  a  great 
deal  of  warmth.  Therefore  he  had  gathered 
together  an  enormous  mass  of  stones  and 
mountains,  and  erected  a  highland,  and  this 
he  had  done  so  that  it  should  be  near  the  sun, 
and  receive  much  help  from  the  sun's  heat. 
Over  the  stone-heaps  he  had  spread  a  thin 
layer  of  soil,  and  then  he  had  thought  that 
everything   was   well   arranged. 

"  But  while  he  was  down  in  Skane,  a  couple 
of  heavy  showers  had  come  up,  and  more  was 
not  needed  to  show  what  his  work  amounted 
to.  When  our  Lord  came  to  inspect  the 
land,  all  the  soil  had  been  washed  avvTiy,  and 
the  naked  mountain  foundation  shone  forth 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  305 

all  over.  Where  it  was  about  the  best, 
lay  clay  and  heavy  gravel  over  the  rocks,  but 
it  looked  so  poor  that  it  was  easy  to  under- 
stand that  hardly  anything  except,  spruce 
and  juniper  and  moss  and  heather  could 
grow  there.  But  what  there  was  plenty  of 
was  water.  It  had  filled  up  all  the  clefts 
in  the  mountain ;  and  lakes  and  rivers  and 
brooks;  these  one  saw  everywhere,  to  say 
nothing  of  swamps  and  morasses,  which 
spread  over  large  tracts.  And  the  most 
exasperating  thing  of  all  was,  that  while  some 
tracts  had  too  much  water,  it  was  so  scarce 
in  others,  that  whole  fields  lay  like  dry  moors, 
where  sand  and  earth  whirled  up  in  clouds 
with  the  least  little  breeze. 

"  'What  can  have  been  your  meaning  in 
creating  such  a  land  as  this?'  said  our  Lord. 
Saint  Peter  made  excuses,  and  declared  he 
had  wished  to  build  up  a  land  so  high  that  it 
should  have  plenty  of  warmth  from  the  sun. 
'But  then  you  will  also  get  much  of  the  night 
chill,'  said  our  Lord,  'for  that  too  comes 
from  heaven.  •  I  am  very  much  afraid  the 
little  that  can  grow  here  will  freeze.' 


3o6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"This,  to  be  sure,  Saint  Peter  hadn't 
thought  about. 

"  'Yes,  here  it  will  be  a  poor  and  frost- 
bound  land,'  said  our  Lord,  'it  can't  be 
helped.' 

When  little  Mats  had  gotten  this  far  in  his 
story,  Osa,  the  goose-girl,  protested:  "  I  can- 
not bear,  little  Mats,  to  hear  you  say  that  it  is 
so  miserable  in  Smaland,"  said  she.  "You 
forget  entirely  how  much  good  soil  there 
is  there.  Only  think  of  More  district,  by 
Kalmar  Sound!  I  wonder  where  3'ou'll  find 
a  richer  grain  region.  There  are  fields  upon 
fields,  just  like  here  in  Skane.  The  soil  is 
so  good  that  I  cannot  imagine  anything  that 
couldn't  grow  there." 

"  I  can't  help  that,"  said  little  Mats.  "  I'm 
only  relating  what  others  have  said  before." 

"And  I  have  heard  many  say  that  there  is 
not  a  more  beautiful  coast  land  than  Tjust. 
Think  of  the  bays  and  islets,  and  the  manors, 
and  the  groves!"  said  Osa.  "Yes,  that's 
true  enough,"  little  Mats  admitted.  "And 
don't  you  remember,"  continued  Osa,  "the 
school   teacher  said   that   such  a    lively  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  307 

picturesque  district  as  that  bit  of  Smaland 
which  Hes  south  of  Lake  Vettern  is  not  to  be 
found  in  all  Sweden?  Think  of  the  beautiful 
sea  and  the  yellow  coast-mountains,  and  of 
Grenna  and  Jonkoping,  with  its  match  fac- 
tory, and  think  of  Huskvarna,  and  all  the  big 
establishments  there!"  "Yes,  that's  true 
enough,"  said  little  Mats  once  again.  "And 
think  of  Visingso,  little  Mats,  with  the  ruins 
and  the  oak  forests  and  the  legends!  Think 
of  the  valley  through  which  Em&n  flows, 
with  all  the  villages  and  flour-mills  and  saw- 
mills, and  the  carpenter  shops!"  "Yes,  that 
is  true  enough,"  said  little  Mats,  and  looked 
troubled. 

All  of  a  sudden  he  had  looked  up.  "Now 
we  are  pretty  stupid,"  said  he.  "All  this, 
of  course,  lies  in  our  Lord's  Smaland,  in  that 
part  of  the  land  which  was  already  finished 
when  Saint  Peter  undertook  the  job.  It's 
only  natural  that  it  should  be  pretty  and 
fine  there.  But  in  Saint  Peter's  SmMand  it 
looks  as  it  says  in  the  legend.  And  it  wasn't 
surprising  that  our  Lord  was  distressed  when 
he  saw  it,"  continued  little  Mats,  as  he  took 


3o8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

up  the  thread  of  his  story  again.  "Saint 
Peter  didn't  lose  his  courage,  at  all  events, 
but  tried  to  comfort  our  Lord.  'Don't  be  so 
grieved  over  this!'  said  he.  'Only  wait  until 
I  have  created  people  who  can  till  the  swamps 
and  break  up  fields  from  the  stone  hills.' 

"That  was  the  end  of  our  Lord's  patience — 
and  he  said:  'No!  you  can  go  down  to 
Skane  and  make  the  Sk&ninge,  but  the 
Sm^lander  I  will  create  myself.'  And  so  our 
Lord  created  the  Sm§,lander,  and  made  him 
quick-witted  and  contented  and  happy  and 
thrifty  and  enterprising  and  capable,  that  he 
might  be  able  to  get  his  livelihood  in  his  poor 
country." 

Then  little  Mats  was  silent;  and  if  Nils 
Holgersson  had  also  kept  still,  all  would  have 
gone  well;  but  he  couldn't  possibly  refrain 
from  asking  how  Saint  Peter  had  succeeded 
in  creating  the  Sk§,ninge. 
*  "Well,  what  do  you  think  yourself?"  said 
little  Mats,  and  looked  so  scornful  that  Nils 
Holgersson  threw  himself  upon  him,  to  thrash 
him.  But  Mats  was  only  a  little  tot,  and 
Osa,   the  goose-girl,   who  was  a   year  older 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


309 


than  he,  ran  forward  histantly  to  help  hhn. 
Good-natured  though  she  was,  she  sprang  Hke 
a  Hon  as  soon  as  anyone  touched  her  brother. 
And  Nils  Holgersson  did  not  care  to  fight  a 
girl,  but  turned  his  back,  and  didn't  look  at 
those  Sm&land  children  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 


XVI 
THE  CROWS 

THE    EARTHEN    CROCK 

IN  THE  southwest  corner  of  Smaland  lies 
a  township  called  Sonnerbo.  It  is  a 
rather  smooth  and  even  country.  And  one 
who  sees  it  in  winter,  when  it  is  covered 
with  snow,  cannot  imagine  that  there  is  any- 
thing under  the  snow  but  garden-plots,  rye- 
fields  and  clover-meadows  as  is  generally 
the  case  in  flat  countries.  But,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  April  when  the  snow  finally  melts 
away  in  Sonnerbo,  it  is  apparent  that  that 
which  lies  hidden  under  it  is  only  dry,  sandy 
heaths,  bare  rocks,  and  big,  marshy  swamps. 
There  are  fields  here  and  there,  to  be 
sure,  but  they  are  so  small  that  they  are 
scarcely  worth  mentioning;  and  one  also 
finds  a  few   little    red    or    gray    farmhouses 

hidden     away     in       some      beech-coppice — 

310 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  311 

almost  as  if  they  were  afraid  to  show  them- 
selves. 

Where  Sonnerbo  township  touches  the 
boundaries  of  Halland,  there  is  a  sandy  heath 
which  is  so  far-reaching  that  he  who  stands 
upon  one  edge  of  it  cannot  look  across  to  the 
other.  Nothing  except  heather  grows  on  the 
heath,  and  it  wouldn't  be  easy  either  to  coax 
other  growths  to  thrive  there.  To  start  with, 
one  would  have  to  uproot  the  heather;  for 
it  is  thus  with  heather:  although  it  has 
only  a  little  shrtmken  root,  small  shrunken 
branches,  and  dry,  shrunken  leaves  it  fancies 
that  it's  a  tree.  Therefore  it  acts  just  like 
real  trees — spreads  itself  out  in  forest  fashion 
over  wide  areas ;  holds  together  faithfully,  and 
causes  all  foreign  growths  that  wish  to  crowd 
in  upon  its  territory  to  die  out. 

The  only  place  on  the  heath  where  the 
heather  is  not  all-powerful,  is  a  low,  stony 
ridge  which  passes  over  it.  There  you'll 
find  juniper  bushes,  mountain  ash,  and 
a  few  large,  fine  oaks.  At  the  time  when  Nils 
Holgersson  travelled  around  with  the  wild 
geese,  a  little  cabin  stood  there,  with  a  bit  of 


312  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

cleared  ground  around  it.  But  the  people 
who  had  lived  there  at  one  time,  had,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  moved  away.  The  little 
cabin  was  empty,  and  the  ground  lay  unused. 

When  the  tenants  left  the  cabin  they 
closed  the  damper,  fastened  the  window- 
hooks,  and  locked  the  door.  But  no  one  had 
thought  of  the  broken  window-pane  which 
was  only  stuffed  with  a  rag.  After  the  showers 
of  a  couple  of  summers,  the  rag  had  moulded 
and  shrunk,  and,  finally,  a  crow  had  succeeded 
in  poking  it  out. 

The  ridge  on  the  heather-heath  was  really 
not  as  desolate  as  one  might  think,  for  it  was 
inhabited  by  a  large  crow-folk.  Naturally, 
the  crows  did  not  live  there  all  the  year 
round.  They  moved  to  foreign  lands  in  the 
winter;  in  the  autumn  they  travelled  from  one 
grain-field  to  another  all  over  Gotaland, 
and  picked  grain;  during  the  summer,  they 
spread  themselves  over  the  farms  in  Sonnerbo 
township,  and  lived  upon  eggs  and  berries 
and  birdlings;  but  every  spring,  when  nest- 
ing time  came,  they  came  back  to  the  heather- 
heath. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  313 

The  one  who  had  poked  the  rag  from  the 
window,  was  a  crow-cock  named  Garm  White- 
feather;  but  he  was  never  called  anything 
but  Fumle  or  Drumle,  or  out  and  out  Fumle- 
Dnunle,  because  he  always  acted  awkwardly 
and  stupidly,  and  wasn't  good  for  anything 
except  to  make  fun  of.  Fumle-Drumle 
was  bigger  and  stronger  than  any  of  the  other 
crows,  but  that  didn't  help  him  in  the  least; 
he  was — and  remained — a  butt  for  ridicule. 
And  it  didn't  profit  him,  either,  that  he  came 
from  very  good  stock.  If  everything  had 
gone  smoothly,  he  should  have  been  leader 
for  the  whole  flock,  because  this  honour  had, 
from  time  immemorial,  belonged  to  the  oldest 
Whitefeather.  But  long  before  Fumle-Drumle 
was  born,  the  power  had  gone  from  his  family, 
and  was  now  wielded  by  a  cruel  wild  crow, 
named  Wind- Rush. 

This  transference  of  power  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  crows  on  crow-ridge  desired  to 
change  their  manner  of  living.  Possibly 
there  are  many  who  think  that  everything  in 
the  shape  of  crow  lives  in  the  same  way ;  but 
this   is   not   so.     There   are   entire   crow-folk 


314  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

who  lead  honourable  lives — that  is  to  say, 
they  only  eat  grain,  worms,  caterpillars,  and 
dead  animals;  and  there  are  others  who  lead 
a  regular  bandit's  life,  who  throw  them- 
selves upon  baby-hares  and  small  birds,  and 
plunder  every  single  bird's  nest  they  set  eyes 
on. 

The  ancient  Whitefeathers  had  been  strict 
and  temperate;  and  as  long  as  they  had  led 
the  flock,  the  crows  had  been  compelled  to 
conduct  themselves  in  such  a  way  that  other 
birds  could  speak  no  ill  of  them.  But  the 
crows  were  numerous,  and  poverty  was  great 
among  them.  They  didn't  care  to  go  the 
whole  length  of  living  a  strictly  moral  life, 
so  they  rebelled  against  the  Whitefeathers, 
and  gave  the  power  to  Wind-Rush,  who  was 
the  worst  nest-plunderer  and  robber  that 
could  be  imagined — if  his  wife,  Wind-Air, 
wasn't  worse  still.  Under  their  government 
the  crows  had  begun  to  lead  such  a  life  that 
now  they  were  more  feared  than  pigeon- 
hawks  and  leech-owls. 

Naturally,  Fumle-Drumle  had  nothing  to 
sav  in  the  flock.     The  crows  were  all  of  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  315 

opinion  that  he  did  not  in  the  least  take  after 
his  forefathers,  and  that  he  wouldn't  suit  as 
a  leader.  No  one  would  have  mentioned  him, 
if  he  hadn't  constantly  committed  fresh 
blunders.  A  few,  who  were  quite  sensible, 
sometimes  said  perhaps  it  was  lucky  for 
Fumle-Drumle  that  he  was  such  a  bungling 
idiot,  otherwise  Wind-Rush  and  Wind-Air 
would  hardly  have  allowed  him — who  was 
of  the  old  chieftain  stock — to  remain  with 
the  flock. 

Now,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  rather 
friendly  toward  him,  and  willingly  took  him 
along  with  them  on  their  hunting  expeditions. 
There  all  could  observe  how  much  more  skilful 
and  daring  they  were  than  he. 

None  of  the  crows  knew  that  it  was  Fumle- 
Drumle  who  had  pecked  the  rag  out  of  the 
window;  and  had  they  known  of  this,  they 
would  have  been  very  much  astonished. 
Such  a  thing  as  daring  to  approach  a  human 
being's  dwelling,  they  had  never  believed  of 
him.  He  kept  the  thing  to  himself  very 
carefully;  and  he  had  his  own  good  reasons 
for  it.     Wind  and  Air   always   treated    him 


3i6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

well  in  the  daytime,  and  when  the  others  were 
around;  but  one  very  dark  night,  when  the 
comrades  sat  on  the  night  branch,  he  was 
attacked  by  a  couple  of  crows  and  nearly 
murdered.  After  that  he  moved  every  night, 
after  dark,  from  his  usual  sleeping  quarters 
into  the  empty  cabin. 

Now  one  afternoon,  when  the  crows  had 
put  their  nests  in  order  on  crow-ridge,  they 
happened  upon  a  remarkable  find.  Wind- 
Rush,  Fumle-Drumle,  and  a  couple  of  others 
had  flown  down  into  a  big  hollow  in  one  cor- 
ner of  the  heath.  The  hollow  was  nothing 
but  a  gravel-pit,  but  the  crows  could  not  be 
satisfied  with  such  a  simple  explanation ;  they 
flew  down  in  it  continually,  and  turned  every 
single  sand-grain  to  get  at  the  reason  why 
human  beings  had  digged  it.  While  the 
crows  were  pottering  around  down  there,  a 
mass  of  gravel  fell  from  one  side.  They 
rushed  up  to  it,  and  had  the  good  fortune  to 
find  amongst  the  fallen  stones  and  stubble — • 
a  large  earthen  crock,  which  was  locked  with 
a  wooden  clasp!  Naturally  they  wanted  to 
know  if  there  was  anything  in  it,  and  they 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  317 

tried  both  to  peck  holes  in  the  crock,  and  to 
bend  up  the  clasp  but  they  had  no  success. 

They  stood  perfectly  helpless  and  ex- 
amined the  crock,  when  they  heard  someone 
say:  "Shall  I  come  down  and  assist  you 
crows?"  They  glanced  up  quickly.  On  the 
edge  of  the  hollow  sat  a  fox  and  blinked 
down  at  them.  He  was  one  of  the  prettiest 
foxes — both  in  colour  and  form — that  they 
had  ever  seen.  The  only  fault  with  him  was 
that  he  had  lost  an  ear. 

"If  you  desire  to  do  us  a  service,"  said 
Wind-Rush,  "we  shall  not  say  nay."  At 
the  same  time,  both  he  and  the  others  flew 
up  from  the  hollow.  Then  the  fox  jumped 
down  in  their  place,  bit  at  the  jar,  and  pulled 
at  the  lock — but  he  couldn't  open  it  either. 

"Can  you  make  out  what  there  is  in  it?" 
said  Wind-Rush.  The  fox  rolled  the  jar 
back  and  forth,  and  listened  attentively. 
"  It  must  be  silver  money,"  said  he. 

This  was  more  than  the  crows  had  expected. 
"Do  you  think  it  can  be  silver?"  said  they, 
and  their  eyes  were  ready  to  pop  out  of  their 
heads  with  greed;  for  remarkable  as  it  may 


3i8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

sound,  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  which 
crows  love  as  much  as  silver  money. 

"Hear  how  it  rattles!"  said  the  fox  and 
rolled  the  crock  around  once  more.  "Only 
I  can't  imderstand  how  we  shall  get  at  it." 
"That  will  surely  be  impossible,"  said  the 
crows.  The  fox  stood  and  rubbed  his  head 
against  his  left  leg,  and  pondered.  Now 
perhaps  he  might  succeed,  with  the  help  of 
the  crows,  in  becoming  master  of  that  little 
imp  who  always  eluded  him.  "Oh!  I  know 
someone  who  could  open  the  crock  for  you," 
said  the  fox.  "Then  tell  us!  Tell  us!" 
cried  the  crows;  and  they  were  so  excited 
that  they  tumbled  down  into  the  pit.  "That 
I  will  do,  if  you'll  first  promise  me  that  you 
will  agree  to  my  terms,"  said  he. 

Then  the  fox  told  the  crows  about  Thumb- 
ietot,  and  said  that  if  they  could  bring  him 
to  the  heath  he  would  open  the  crock  for 
them.  But  in  payment  for  this  counsel,  he 
demanded  that  they  should  deliver  Thumb- 
ietot  to  him,  as  soon  as  he  had  gotten  the 
silver  money  for  them.  The  crows  had  no 
reason  to  spare  Thumbietot,  so  agreed  to  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  319 

compact  at  once.  It  was  easy  enough  to 
agree  to  this;  but  it  was  harder  to  find  out 
where  Thumbietot  and  the  wild  geese  were 
stopping. 

Wind-Rush  himself  travelled  away  with 
fifty  crows,  and  said  that  he  should  soon 
return.  But  one  day  after  another  passed 
without  the  crows  on  crow-ridge  seeing  a 
shadow  of  him. 

KIDNAPPED    BY    CROWS 

Wednesday,  April  thirteenth. 

The  wild  geese  were  up  at  daybreak,  so 
they  should  have  time  to  get  themselves  a 
bite  of  food  before  starting  out  on  the  journey 
toward  Ostergotland.  The  island  in  Goose- 
fiord,  where  they  had  slept,  was  small  and 
barren,  but  in  the  water  all  around  it  were 
growths  which  they  could  eat  their  fill  upon. 
It  was  worse  for  the  boy,  however.  He 
couldn't  manage  to  find  anything  eatable. 

As  he  stood  there  hungry  and  drowsy,  and 
looked  around  in  all  directions,  his  glance 
fell  upon  a  pair  of  squirrels,  who  played 
upon   the    wooded    point,    directly   opposite 


320  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

the  rock  island.  He  wondered  if  the  squirrels 
still  had  any  of  their  winter  supplies  left,  and 
asked  the  white  goosey-gander  to  take  him 
over  to  the  point,  that  he  might  beg  them  for 
a  couple  of  hazelnuts. 

Instantly  the  white  one  swam  across  the 
sound  with  him;  but  as  luck  would  have  it 
the  squirrels  had  so  much  fun  chasing  each 
other  from  tree  to  tree,  that  they  didn't 
bother  about  listening  to  the  boy.  They 
drew  farther  into  the  grove.  He  hurried 
after  them,  and  was  soon  out  of  the  goosey- 
gander's  sight — who  stayed  behind  and  waited 
on   the   shore. 

The  boy  waded  forward  between  some 
white  anemone-stems — ^which  were  so  high 
they  reached  to  his  chin — when  he  felt  that 
someone  caught  hold  of  him  from  behind, 
and  tried  to  lift  him  up.  He  turned  round 
and  saw  that  a  crow  had  grabbed  him  by 
the  shirt-band.  He  tried  to  break  loose,  but 
before  this  was  possible,  another  crow  ran 
up,  gripped  him  by  the  stocking,  and  knocked 
him  over. 

If  Nils  Holgersson  had  immediately  cried 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  321 

for  help,  the  white  goosey-gander  certainly 
would  have  been  able  to  save  him;  but  the 
boy  probably  thought  that  he  could  protect 
himself,  unaided,  against  a  couple  of  crows. 
He  kicked  and  struck  out,  but  the  crows 
didn't  let  go  their  hold,  and  they  soon  suc- 
ceeded in  raising  themselves  into  the  air  with 
him.  To  make  matters  worse,  they  flew  so 
recklessly  that  his  head  struck  against  a 
branch.  He  received  a  hard  knock  over  the 
head,  it  grew  black  before  his  eyes,  and  he 
lost  consciousness. 

When  he  opened  his  eyes  once  more,  he 
found  himself  high  above  the  ground.  He 
regained  his  senses  slowly;  at  first  he  knew 
neither  where  he  was,  nor  what  he  saw. 
When  he  glanced  down,  he  saw  that  under  him 
was  spread  a  tremendously  big  woolly  car- 
pet, which  was  woven  in  greens  and  reds,  and 
in  large  irregular  patterns.  The  carpet  was 
very  thick  and  fine,  but  he  thought  it  was  a 
pity  that  it  had  been  so  badly  used.  It  was 
actually  ragged;  long  tears  ran  through  it; 
in  some  places  large  pieces  were  torn  away. 
And  the  strangest  of  all  was  that  it  appeared 


322  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

to  be  spread  over  a  mirror  floor;  for  under 
the  holes  and  tears  in  the  carpet  shone  bright 
and  gHttering  glass. 

The  next  thing  the  boy  observed  was  that 
the  sun  unrolled  itself  in  the  heavens.  In- 
stantly, the  mirror-glass  under  the  holes  and 
tears  in  the  carpet  began  to  shimmer  in  red 
and  gold.  It  looked  very  gorgeous,  and  the 
boy  was  delighted  with  the  pretty  colour- 
scheme,  although  he  didn't  exactly  under- 
stand what  it  was  that  he  saw.  But  now  the 
crows  descended,  and  he  saw  at  once  that 
the  big  carpet  under  him  was  the  earth, 
which  was  dressed  in  green  and  brown  cone- 
trees  and  naked  leaf -trees,  and  that  the  holes 
and  tears  were  shining  fiords  and  little  lakes. 

He  remembered  that  the  first  time  he  had 
travelled  up  in  the  air,  he  had  thought  that 
the  earth  in  vSkane  looked  like  a  piece  of 
checked  cloth.  But  this  country  which  resem- 
bled a  torn  carpet — ^what  might  this  be? 

He  began  to  ask  himself  a  lot  of  questions. 
Why  wasn't  he  sitting  on  the  goosey-gander's 
back?  Why  did  a  great  swarm  of  crows  fly 
around  him?  And  why  was  he  being  pulled 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


323 


and  knocked  hither   and  thither   so  that    he 
was  about  to  break  in  pieces? 

Then,  all  at  once,  the  whole  thing  dawned 
on  him.  He  had  been  kidnapped  by  a  couple 
of  crows.  The  white  goosey-gander  was  still 
on  the  shore,  waiting,  and  to-day  the  wild 
geese  were  going  to  travel  to  Ostergotland. 
He  was  being  carried  southwest;  this  he 
understood  because  the  sun's  disc  was  behind 
him.  The  big  forest-carpet  which  lay  be- 
neath him  was  surely  Smaland. 

What  will  become  of  the  goosey-gander 
now,  when  I  cannot  look  after  him  ? ' '  thought 
the  boy,  and  began  to  call  to  the  crows  to  take 
him  back  to  the  wild  geese  instantly.  He 
wasn't  at  all  uneasy  on  his  own  account.  He 
believed  that  they  were  carrying  him  off 
simply  in  a  spirit  of  mischief. 

The  crows  didn't  pay  the  slightest  attention 
to  his  exhortations,  but  flew  on  as  fast  as  they 
could.  After  a  bit,  one  of  them  flapped  his 
wings  in  a  manner  which  meant:  "Look  out! 
Danger!"  Soon  thereafter  they  came  down  in 
a  spruce  forest,  pushed  their  w^ay  between 
prickly  branches  to  the  ground,  and  put  the 


324  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

boy  down  under  a  thick  spruce,  where  he  was 
so  well  concealed  that  not  even  a  falcon  could 
have  sighted  him. 

Fifty  crows  surrounded  him,  with  bills 
pointed  toward  him  to  guard  him.  "Now 
perhaps  I  may  hear,  crows,  what  your  purpose 
is  in  carrying  me  off,"  said  he.  But  he  was 
hardly  permitted  to  finish  the  sentence  before 
a  big  crow  hissed  at  him:  "Keep  still!  or 
I'll  bore  your  eyes  out." 

It  was  evident  that  the  crow  meant  what 
she  said;  and  there  was  nothing  for  the  boy 
to  do  but  obey.  So  he  sat  there  and  stared 
at  the  crows,  and  the  crows  stared  at  him. 

The  longer  he  looked  at  them,  the  less  he 
liked  them.  It  was  dreadful  how  dusty  and 
unkempt  their  feather  dresses  were — as  though 
they  knew  neither  baths  nor  oiling.  Their 
toes  and  claws  were  grimy  with  dried-in  mud, 
and  the  corners  of  their  mouths  were  covered 
with  food  drippings.  These  were  very  dif- 
ferent birds  from  the  wild  geese — that  he 
observed.  He  thought  they  had  a  cruel, 
sneaky,  watchful,  and  bold  appearance,  just 
like  cut-throats  and  vagabonds. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  325 

"It  is  certainly  a  real  robber-band  that 
I've  fallen  in  with,"  thought  he. 

Just  then  he  heard  the  wild  geese's  call 
above  him.  "Where  are  you?  Here  am  I. 
Where  are  you?  Here  am  I." 

He  understood  that  Akka  and  the  others 
had  gone  out  to  search  for  him;  but  before 
he  could  answer  them  the  big  crow  who 
appeared  to  be  the  leader  of  the  band  hissed  in 
his  ear :  "Think  of  your  eyes ! "  And  there  was 
nothing  else  for  him  to  do  but  to  keep  still. 

The  wild  geese  may  not  have  known  that 
he  was  so  near  them,  but  had  just  happened, 
incidentally,  to  travel  over  this  forest.  He 
heard  their  call  a  couple  of  times  more,  then  it 
died  away.  "Well,  now  you'll  have  to  get 
along  by  yourself.  Nils  Holgersson,"  he  said 
to  himself.  "Now  you  must  prove  whether 
you  have  learned  anything  during  these  weeks 
in  the  open." 

A  moment  later  the  crows  gave  the  signal 
to  break  up;  and  since  it  was  still  their 
intention,  apparently,  to  carry  him  along  in 
such  a  way  that  one  held  on  to  his  shirt-band, 
and  one  to  a  stocking,  the  boy  said:  "  Is  there 


326  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

not  one  among  you  so  strong  that  he  can  carry 
me  on  his  back?  You  have  already  travelled 
so  badly  with  me  that  I  feel  as  if  I  were  in 
pieces.  Only  let  me  ride!  I'll  not  jump  from 
the  crow's  back,  that  I  promise  you." 

"Oh!  you  needn't  think  that  we  care  how 
you  have  it,"  said  the  leader.  But  now  the 
largest  of  the  crows — a  dishevelled  and 
uncouth  one,  who  had  a  white  feather  in  his 
wing — came  forward  and  said:  "It  would 
certainly  be  best  for  all  of  us,  Wind-Rush,  if 
Thumbietot  got  there  whole,  rather  than  half, 
and  therefore,  I  shall  carry  him  on  my  back." 
"  If  you  can  do  it,  Fumle-Drumle,  I  have  no 
objection,"  said  Wind-Rush.  "But  don't 
lose  him!" 

With  this,  much  was  already  gained,  and 
the  boy  actually  felt  pleased  again.  "There 
is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  losing  my  grit 
because  I  have  been  kidnapped  by  the  crows,'' 
thought  he.  "I'll  surely  be  able  to  manage 
those  poor  little  things." 

The  crows  continued  to  fly  southwest,  over 
Smaland.  It  was  a  glorious  morning — sunny 
and  calm;  and  the  birds  down  on  the  earth 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  327 

were  singing  their  best  love  songs.  In  a  high, 
dark  forest  sat  the  thrush  himself  with  droop- 
ing wings  and  swelling  throat,  and  struck  up 
tune  after  tune.  "How  pretty  you  are! 
How  prett}^  you  are!  How  pretty  you  are!" 
sang  he.  "  No  one  is  so  pretty.  No  one  is  so 
pretty.  No  one  is  so  pretty."  As  soon  as  he 
had  finished  this  song,  he  began  it  all  over 
again. 

But  just  then  the  boy  rode  over  the  forest ; 
and  when  he  had  heard  the  song  a  couple  of 
times,  and  marked  that  the  thrush  knew  no 
other,  he  put  both  hands  up  to  his  mouth  as  a 
speaking  trumpet,  and  called  down:  "We've 
heard  all  this  before.  We've  heard  all  this 
before."  "Who  is  it?  Who  is  it?  Who  is  it? 
Who  makes  fun  of  me? "  asked  the  thrush,  and 
tried  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  one  who  called. 
"It  is  Kidnapped-by-Crows  who  makes  fun 
of  your  song,"  answered  the  boy.  At  that, 
the  crow-chief  turned  his  head  and  said :  "Be 
careful  of  your  eyes,  Thumbietot!"  But  the 
boy  thought,  "Oh!  I  don't  care  about  that. 
I  want  to  show  you  that  I'm  not  afraid 
of  you!" 


328  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Farther  and  farther  inland  they  travelled; 
and  there  were  woods  and  lakes  everywhere. 
In  a  birch-grove  sat  the  wood-dove  on  a  naked 
branch,  and  before  him  stood  the  lady-dove. 
He  blew  up  his  feathers,  cocked  his  head, 
raised  and  lowered  his  body,  until  the  breast- 
feathers  rattled  against  the  branch.  All  the 
while  he  cooed:  "Thou,  thou,  thou  art  the 
loveliest  in  all  the  forest.  No  one  in  the 
forest  is  so  lovely  as  thou,  thou,  thou!" 

But  up  in  the  air  the  boy  rode  past,  and 
when  he  heard  Mr.  Dove  he  couldn't  keep 
still.  "Don't  you  believe  him!  Don't  you 
believe  him!"  cried  he. 

"Who,  who,  who  is  it  that  lies  about  me?" 
cooed  Mr.  Dove,  and  tried  to  get  a  sight  of  the 
one  who  shrieked  at  him.  "It  is  Caught-by- 
Crows  that  lies  about  you,"  replied  the  boy. 
Again  Wind-Rush  turned  his  head  toward 
the  boy  and  commanded  him  to  shut  up,  but 
Fumle-Drumle,  who  was  carrying  him,  said: 
"  Let  him  chatter,  then  all  the  little  birds  will 
think  that  we  crows  have  become  quick- 
witted and  funny  birds."  "Oh!  they're  not 
such  fools,  either,"  said  Wind-Rush;  but  he 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  329 

liked  the  idea  just  the  same,  for  after  that  he 
let  the  boy  call  out  as  much  as  he  liked. 

They  flew  mostly  over  forests  and  wood- 
lands, but  there  were  churches  and  parishes 
and  little  cabins  in  the  outskirts  of  the  forest. 
In  one  place  they  saw  a  pretty  old  manor. 
It  lay  with  the  forest  back  of  it,  and  the  sea 
in  front  of  it;  had  red  walls  and  a  turreted 
roof;  great  sycamores  about  the  grounds, 
and  big,  thick  gooseberry-bushes  in  the 
orchard.  On  the  top  of  the  weathercock  sat 
the  starling,  and  sang  so  loud  that  every  note 
was  heard  by  the  wife,  who  sat  on  an  egg  in 
the  heart  of  a  pear  tree.  "We  have  four 
pretty  little  eggs,"  sang  the  starling.  "We 
have  four  pretty  little  round  eggs.  We  have 
the  whole  nest  filled  with  fine  eggs." 

When  the  starling  sang  the  song  for  the 
thousandth  time,  the  boy  rode  over  the  place. 
He  put  his  hands  up  to  his  mouth,  as  a 
pipe,  and  called:  "The  magpie  will  get  them. 
The  magpie  will  get  them." 

"Who  is  it  that  wants  to  frighten  me?" 
asked  the  starling,  and  flapped  his  wings 
uneasily.       "It    is    Captured-by-Crows    that 


330  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

frightens  you,"  said  the  boy.  This  time  the 
crow-chief  didn't  attempt  to  hush  him  up. 
Instead,  both  he  and  his  flock  were  having  so 
much  fun  that  they  cawed  with  satisfaction. 

The  farther  inland  they  came,  the  larger 
were  the  lakes,  and  the  more  plentiful  were  the 
islands  and  points.  And  on  a  lake-shore 
stood  a  drake  and  kowtowed  before  the  duck. 
"I'll  be  true  to  you  all  the  days  of  my  life. 
I'll  be  true  to  you  all  the  days  of  my  life," 
said  the  drake.  "  It  won't  last  until  the 
summer's  end,"  shrieked  the  boy.  "Who 
are  you?"  called  the  drake.  "My  name's 
Stolen-by-Crows,"  shrieked  the  boy.  ^ 

At  dinner  time  the  crows  lighted  in  a 
food-grove.  They  walked  about  and  pro- 
cured food  for  themselves,  but  none  of  them 
thought  about  giving  the  boy  anything. 
Then  Fumle-Drumle  came  riding  up  to  the 
chief  with  a  dog-rose  branch,  with  a  few  dried 
buds  on  it.  "Here's  something  for  you, 
Wind-Rush,"  said  he.  "This  is  pretty  food, 
and  suitable  for  you."  Wind-Rush  sniffed 
contemptuously.  "  Do  you  think  that  I  want 
to  eat  old,  dry  buds?"  said  he.     "And  I  who 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  331 

thought  that  you  would  be  pleased  with 
them ! " '  said  Fumle-Drumle ;  and  threw  away 
the  dog-rose  branch  as  if  in  despair.  But 
it  fell  right  in  front  of  the  boy,  and  he  wasn't 
slow  about  grabbing  it  and  eating  until  he 
was  satisfied. 

When  the  crows  had  eaten,  they  began  to 
chatter.  "What  are  you  thinking  about, 
Wind-Rush?  You  are  so  quiet  to-day,"  said 
one  of  them  to  the  leader.  "  I'm  thinking 
that  in  this  district  there  lived,  once  upon  a 
time,  a  hen,  who  was  very  fond  of  her  mistress ; 
and  in  order  to  really  please  her,  she  went 
and  laid  a  nest  full  of  eggs,  which  she  hid 
under  the  store-house  floor.  The  mistress 
of  the  house  wondered,  of  course,  where  the 
hen  was  keeping  herself  such  a  long  time. 
She  searched  for  her,  but  did  not  find  her. 
Can  you  guess,  Longbill,  who  it  was  that 
found  her  and  the  eggs?" 

"  I  think  I  can  guess  it,  Wind-Rush,  but 
when  you  have  told  about  this,  I  will  tell 
you  something  like  it.  Do  you  remember 
the  big,  black  cat  in  Hinneryd's  parish  house? 
She    was    dissatisfied    because    they    always 


332  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

took  the  new-born  kittens  from  her,  and 
drowned  them.  Just  once  did  she  succeed 
in  keeping  them  concealed,  and  that  was  when 
she  had  laid  them  in  a  haystack,  out  doors. 
She  was  jDretty  well  pleased  with  those  young 
kittens,  but  I  believe  that  I  got  more  pleasure 
out  of  them  than  she  did." 

Now  they  became  so  excited  that  they  all 
talked  at  once.  "  What  kind  of  an  accomplish- 
ment is  that — to  steal  little  kittens?"  said 
one.  "  I  once  chased  a  young  hare  who  was 
almost  full-grown.  That  meant  to  follow 
him  from  covert  to  covert."  He  got  no 
further  before  another  took  the  words  from 
him.  "It  may  be  fun,  perhaps,  to  annoy 
hens  and  cats,  but  I  find  it  still  more 
remarkable  that  a  crow  can  worry  a  human 
being.     I  once  stole  a  silver  spoon " 

But  now  the  boy  thought  he  was  too  good 
to  sit  and  listen  to  such  gabble.  "Now 
listen  to  me,  you  crows!"  said  he.  "I  think 
you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourselves  to 
talk  about  all  your  wickedness.  I  have 
lived  amongst  wild  geese  for  three  weeks, 
and  of  them  I  have  never  heard  or  seen  any- 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  ^33 

thing  but  good.  You  must  have  a  bad  chief, 
since  he  permits  you  to  rob  and  murder  in 
this  way.  You  ought  to  begin  to  lead  new 
lives,  for  I  can  tell  you  that  human  beings 
have  grown  so  tired  of  your  wickedness 
they  are  trying  with  all  their  might  to  root 
you  out.  And  then  there  will  soon  be  an 
end  of  you." 

When  Wind-Rush  and  the  crows  heard  this, 
they  were  so  furious  that  they  intended  to 
throw  themselves  upon  him  and  tear  him  in 
pieces.  But  Fumle-Drumle  laughed  and 
cawed,  and  stood  in  front  of  him.  "Oh,  no, 
no ! "  said  he,  and  seemed  absolutely  terrified. 
"What  think  you  that  Wind-Air  will  say  if 
you  tear  Thumbietot  in  pieces  before  he  has 
gotten  that  silver  money  for  us?  "  "It  has  to 
be  you,  Fumle-Drumle,  that's  afraid  of  women- 
folk," said  Rush.  But,  at  any  rate,  both  he 
and  the  others  left  Thumbietot  in  peace. 

Shortly  after  that  the  crows  went  further. 
Until  now  the  boy  thought  that  Sm&land 
wasn't  such  a  poor  country  as  he  had  heard. 
Of  course  it  was  woody  and  full  of  mountain- 
ridges,   but  alongside  the  islands  and  lakes 


334  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

lay  cultivated  grounds,  and  any  real  desola- 
tion he  hadn't  come  upon,  But  the  farther 
inland  they  came,  the  fewer  were  the  villages 
and  cottages.  Toward  the  last,  he  thought 
that  he  was  riding  over  a  veritable  wilderness 
where  he  saw  nothing  but  swamps  and  heaths 
and  juniper-hills. 

The  sun  had  gone  down,  but  it  was  still 
perfect  daylight  when  the  crows  reached 
the  large  heather-heath.  Wind-Rush  sent 
a  crow  on  ahead,  to  say  that  he  had  met  with 
success;  and  when  it  was  known,  Wind-Air, 
with  several  hundred  crows  from  Crow-Ridge, 
flew  to  meet  the  arrivals.  In  the  midst  of  the 
deafening  cawing  which  the  crowds  emitted, 
Fumle-Drumle  said  to  the  boy:  "You  have 
been  so  comical  and  so  jolly  during  the  trip 
that  I  am  really  fond  of  you.  Therefore  I 
want  to  give  you  some  good  advice.  As  soon 
as  we  light,  you'll  be  requested  to  do  a  bit  of 
work  which  may  seem  very  eas}^  to  you;  but 
beware  of  doing  it!" 

Soon  thereafter  Fumle-Drumle  put  Nils 
Holgersson  down  in  the  bottom  of  a  sand- 
pit.    The    boy    flung    himself    down,    rolled 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  335 

over,  and  lay  there  as  though  he  was  simply 
done  up  with  fatigue.  Such  a  lot  of  crows 
fluttered  about  him  that  the  air  rustled  like 
a  wind-storm,  but  he  didn't  look  up. 

"Thumbietot,"  said  Wind-Rush,  "Get  up 
now !  You  shall  help  us  with  a  matter  which 
will  be  very  easy  for  you." 

The  boy  didn't  move,  but  pretended  to  be 
asleep.  Then  Wind-Rush  took  him  by  the 
arm,  and  dragged  him  over  the  sand  to  an 
earthen  crock  of  old-time  make,  that  was 
standing  in  the  pit.  "Get  up,  Thumbietot," 
said  he,  "and  open  this  crock!"  "Why 
can't  you  let  me  sleep?"  said  the  boy.  " I'm 
too  tired  to  do  anything  to-night.  Wait 
until  to-morrow!" 

"Open  the  crock!"  said  Wind-Rush,  shak- 
ing him.  "How  shall  a  poor  little  child  be 
able  to  open  such  a  crock?  Why,  it's  quite 
as  large  as  I  am  myself."  "Open  it!"  com- 
manded Wind-Rush  once  more,  "or  it  will  be 
a  sorry  thing  for  you."  The  boy  got  up, 
tottered  over  to  the  crock,  fumbled  the  clasp, 
and  let  his  arms  fall.  "I'm  not  usually  so 
weak,"  said  he.     "If  you  will  only  let  me 


336  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

sleep  until  morning,  I  think  that  I'll  be  able 
to  manage  with  that  clasp." 

But  Wind-Rush  was  impatient,  and  he 
rushed  forward  and  pinched  the  boy  in  the 
leg.  That  sort  of  treatment  the  boy  didn't 
care  to  suffer  from  a  crow.  He  jerked  him- 
self loose  quickly,  ran  a  couple  of  paces  back- 
ward, drew  his  knife  from  the  sheath,  and 
held  it  extended  in  front  of  him.  "  You'd 
better  be  careful!"  he  cried  to  Wind-Rush. 

This  one  too  was  so  enraged  that  he  didn't 
dodge  the  danger.  He  rushed  at  the  boy, 
just  as  though  he'd  been  blind,  and  ran  so 
straight  against  the  knife,  that  it  entered 
through  his  eye  into  the  head.  The  boy 
drew  the  knife  back  quickly,  but  Wind-Rush 
only  struck  out  with  his  wings,  then  he  fell 
down — dead. 

"Wind-Rush  is  dead!  The  stranger  has 
killed  our  chieftain,  Wind-Rush!"  cried  the 
nearest  crows,  and  then  there  was  a  terrible 
uproar.  Some  wailed,  others  cried  for  ven- 
geance. They  all  ran  or  fluttered  up  to  the 
boy,  with  Fumle-Drumle  in  the  lead.  But 
he  acted  badly  as  usual.     He  only  fluttered 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  337 

and  spread  his  wings  over  the  boy,  and  pre- 
vented the  others  from  coming  forward  and 
running  their  bills  into  him. 

The  boy  thought  that  things  looked  very 
bad  for  him  now.  He  couldn't  run  away 
from  the  crows,  and  there  was  no  place  where 
he  could  hide.  Then  he  happened  to  think 
of  the  earthen  crock.  He  took  a  firm  hold 
on  the  clasp,  and  pulled  it  off.  Then  he 
hopped  into  the  crock  to  hide  in  it.  But  the 
crock  was  a  poor  hiding  place,  for  it  was  nearly 
filled  to  the  brim  with  little,  thin  silver  coins. 
The  boy  couldn't  get  far  enough  down,  so 
he  stooped  and  began  to  throw  out  the 
coins. 

Until  now  the  crows  had  fluttered  around 
him  in  a  thick  swarm  and  pecked  at  him, 
but  when  he  threw  out  the  coins  they  imme- 
diately forgot  their  thirst  for  vengeance,  and 
hurried  to  gather  the  money.  The  boy  threw 
out  handfuls  of  it,  and  all  the  crows — 
yes,  even  Wind-Air  herself — picked  them  up. 
And  everyone  who  succeeded  in  picking  up  a 
coin  ran  off  to  the  nest  with  the  utmost 
speed  to  conceal  it. 


338  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

When  the  boy  had  thrown  out  all  the  silver 
pennies  from  the  crock  he  glanced  up.  Not 
more  than  a  single  crow  was  left  in  the  sandpit. 
That  was  Fumle-Drumle,with  the  white  feather 
in  his  wing;  he  who  had  carried  Thumbritot. 
"You  have  rendered  me  a  greater  service 
than  you  yourself  understand,"  said  the  crow 
— with  a  very  different  voice,  and  a  different 
intonation  than  the  one  he  had  used  hereto- 
fore— "and  I  want  to  save  your  life.  Sit 
down  on  my  back,  and  I'll  take  you  to  a 
hiding  place  where  you  can  be  secure  for 
to-night.  To-morrow,  I'll  arrange  it  so  that 
you  will  get  back  to  the  wild  geese." 

THE    CABIN 

Thursday,  April  fourteenth. 

The  following  morning  when  the  boy  awoke, 
he  lay  in  a  bed.  "When  he  saw  that  he  was  in 
a  house  with  four  walls  around  him,  and  a 
roof  over  him,  he  thought  that  he  was  at  home. 
"  I  wonder  if  mother  will  come  soon  with  some 
coffee,"  he  muttered  to  himself  where  he  lay 
half-awake.  Then  he  remembered  that  he 
was  in  a  deserted  cabin  on  the  crow-ridge, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  339 

and  that  Fumle-Drumle  with  the  white  feather 
had  borne  him  there  the  night  before. 

The  boy  wavS  sore  all  over  after  the  journey 
he  had  made  the  day  before,  and  he  thought 
it  was  lovely  to  lie  still  while  he  waited  for 
Fumle-Drumle  who  had  promised  to  come 
and  fetch  him. 

Curtains  of  checked  cotton  hung  before  the 
bed,  and  he  drew  them  aside  to  look  out  into 
the  cabin.  It  dawned  upon  him  instantly 
that  he  had  never  seen  the  mate  to  a  cabin 
like  this.  The  walls  consisted  of  nothing  but 
a  couple  of  rows  of  logs ;  then  the  roof  began. 
There  was  no  interior  ceiling,  so  he  could  look 
clear  up  to  the  roof -tree.  The  cabin  was  so 
small  that  it  appeared  to  have  been  built 
rather  for  such  as  he  than  for  real  people. 
However,  the  fireplace  and  chimney  were  so 
large,  he  thought  that  he  had  never  seen  larger. 
The  entrance  door  was  in  a  gable-wall  at  the 
side  of  the  fireplace,  and  was  so  narrow  that 
it  was  more  like  a  wicket  than  a  door.  In  the 
other  gable-wall  he  saw  a  low  and  broad 
window  with  many  panes.  There  was  scarcely 
any   movable   furniture    in    the   cabin.     The 


340  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

bench  on  one  side,  and  the  table  under  the 
window,  were  also  stationary — also  the  big 
bed  wdiere  he  la3%  and  the  many-coloured 
cupboard. 

The  boy  could  not  help  wondering  who 
owned  the  cabin,  and  why  it  was  deserted. 
It  certainly  looked  as  though  the  people  who 
had  lived  there  expected  to  return.  The 
coffee-urn  and  the  gruel-pot  stood  on  the 
hearth,  and  there  was  same  wood  in  the  fire- 
place; the  oven-rake  and  baker's  peel  stood 
in  a  corner;  the  spinning  wheel  was  raised  on 
a  bench;  on  the  shelf  over  the  window  lay 
oakum  and  flax,  a  couple  of  skeins  of  yarn,  a 
candle,  and  a  bunch  of  matches. 

Yes,  it  surelv  looked  as  if  those  who  had 
lived  there  had  intended  to  come  back.  There 
were  bed-clothes  on  the  bed ;  and  on  the  walls 
there  still  hrmg  long  strips  of  cloth,  upon 
which  three  riders  named  Kasper,  Melchior, 
and  Baltasar  were  painted.  The  same  horses 
and  riders  were  pictured  many  times.  They 
rode  around  the  whole  cabin,  and  continued 
their  ride  even  up  toward  the  joists. 

But   in   the   roof   the   boy   saw   something 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  341 

which  brought  him  to  his  senses  in  a  jiffy. 
It  was  a  couple  of  loaves  of  big  bread-cakes 
that  hung  there  upon  a  spit.  They  looked 
old  and  mouldy,  but  it  was  bread  aTl  the  same. 
He  gave  them  a  knock  with  the  oven-rake 
and  one  piece  fell  to  the  floor.  He  ate,  and 
stuffed  his  bag  full.  It  was  incredible  how 
good  bread  was,  anyway. 

He  looked  around  the  cabin  once  more,  to 
try  and  discover  if  there  was  anything  else 
which  he  might  find  useful  to  take  along.  "  I 
may  as  well  take  what  I  need,  since  no  one 
else  cares  about  it,"  thought  he.  But  most 
of  the  things  were  too  big  and  heavy.  The 
only  things  that  he  could  carry  might  be  a 
few  matches  perhaps. 

He  clambered  up  on  the  table,  and  swung 
with  the  help  of  the  curtains  up  to  the  win- 
dow-shelf. While  he  stood  there  and  stuffed 
the  matches  into  his  bag,  the  crow  with  the 
white  feather  came  in  through  the  window. 
"Well  here  I  am  at  last,"  said  Fumle-Drumle 
as  he  lit  on  the  table.  "  I  couldn't  get  here  any 
sooner  because  we  crows  have  electdd  a  new 
chieftain    in    Wind-Rush's    i3lace."     "Whom 


342  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

have  you  chosen?"  said  the  boy.  "Well,  we 
have  chosen  one  who  will  not  permit  robbery 
and  injustice.  We  have  elected  Garm  White- 
feather,  lately  called  Fumle-Drunile,"  an- 
swered he,  drawing  himself  up  until  he  looked 
absolutely  regal.  "That  was  a  good  choice," 
said  the  boy  and  congratulated  him.  "Ycu 
may  well  wish  me  luck,"  said  Garm;  then  he 
told  the  boy  about  the  time  they  had  had 
with  Wind-Rush  and  Wind-Air. 

During  this  recital  the  boy  heard  a  voice 
outside  the  window  which  he  thought  sounded 
familiar.  "Is  he  here?" — inquired  the  fox. 
"  Yes,  he's  hidden  in  there,"  answered  a  crow- 
voice.  "Be  careful,  Thumbietot!"  cried 
Garm.  "Wind-Air  stands  without  with  that 
fox  who  wants  to  eat  you."  More  he  didn't 
have  time  to  say,  for  Smirre  dashed  against 
the  window.  The  old,  rotten  window-frame 
gave  way,  and  the  next  second  Smirre  stood 
upon  the  window-table.  Garm  Whitefeather, 
who  didn't  have  time  to  fly  away,  he  killed 
instantly.  Thereupon  he  jumped  down  to 
the  floor,  and  looked  around  for  the  boy. 
He  tried  to  hide  behind  a  big  oakum-spiral, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  343 

but  Smirre  had  already  spied  him,  and  was 
crouched  for  the  final  spring.  The  cabin  was 
so  small,  and  so  low,  the  boy  understood  that 
the  fox  could  reach  him  without  the  least 
difficulty.  But  just  at  that  moment  the  boy 
was  not  without  weapons  of  defence.  He 
struck  a  match  quickly,  touched  the  curtains, 
and  when  they  were  in  flames,  he  threw  them 
down  upon  Smirre  Fox.  When  the  fire  envel- 
oped the  fox,  he  was  seized  with  a  mad  terror. 
He  thought  no  more  about  the  boy,  but  rushed 
wildly  out  of  the  cabin. 

But  it  looked  as  if  the  boy  had  escaped  one 
danger  to  throw  himself  into  a  greater  one. 
From  the  tuft  of  oakum  which  he  had  flung 
at  Smirre  the  fire  had  spread  to  the  bed- 
hangings.  He  jumped  down  and  tried  to 
smother  it,  but  it  blazed  too  quickly  now. 
The  cabin  was  soon  filled  with  smoke,  and 
Smirre  Fox,  who  had  remained  just  outside 
the  window,  began  to  grasp  the  state  of  affairs 
within.  "Well,  Thumbietot,"  he  called  out, 
"  which  do  you  choose  now:  to  be  broiled  alive 
in  there,  or  to  come  out  hereto  me?  Of  course, 
I  should  prefer  to  have  the  pleasure  of  eating 


344  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

you;  but  in  whichever  way  death  meets  you 
it  will  be  dear  to  me." 

The  boy  could  not  think  but  what  the  fox 
was  right,  for  the  fire  was  making  rapid  head- 
way. The  whole  bed  was  now  in  a  blaze,  and 
smoke  rose  from  the  floor;  and  along  the 
painted  wall-strips  the  fire  crept  from  rider 
to  rider.  The  boy  jumped  up  in  the  fireplace, 
and  tried  to  open  the  oven  door,  when  he  heard 
a  key  which  turned  around  slowly  in  the  lock. 
It  must  be  human  beings  coming.  And  in 
the  dire  extremity  in  which  he  found  himself,  he 
was  not  afraid,  but  only  glad.  He  was  already 
on  the  threshold  when  the  door  opened.  He 
saw  a  couple  of  children  facing  him ;  but  how 
they  looked  when  they  saw  the  cabin  in 
flames,  he  took  no  time  to  find  out;  but 
rushed  past  them  into  the  open. 

He  didn't  dare  run  far.  He  knew,  of 
course,  that  Smirre  Fox  lay  in  wait  for 
him,  and  he  understood  that  he  must 
remain  near  the  children.  He  turned  round 
to  see  what  sort  of  folk  they  were,  but  he 
hadn't  looked  at  them  a  second  before  he 
ran    up    to    them     and    cried:    "Oh,    good- 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  345 

dav,  Osa  goose-girl!  Oh,  good  day,  little 
Mats!" 

For  when  the  boy  saw  those  children  he 
forgot  entirely  where  he  was.  Crows  and 
burning  cabin  and  talking  animals  had  van- 
ished from  his  memory.  He  was  walking  on 
a  stubble-field,  in  West  Vemminghog,  tending 
a  goose-flock;  and  beside  him,  on  the  field, 
walked  those  same  SmMand  children,  with  their 
geese.  As  soon  as  he  saw  them,  he  ran  up  on 
the  stone-hedge  and  shouted:  "Oh,  good-day, 
Osa  goose-girl!  Oh,  good-day,  little  Mats!" 

But  when  the  children  saw  such  a  little  crea- 
ture coming  up  to  them  with  outstretched 
hands,  they  grabbed  hold  of  each  other,  took  a 
couple  of  steps  backward,  and  looked  scared  to 
death. 

When  the  boy  noticed  their  terror  he  woke 
up  and  remembered  who  he  was.  And  then 
it  seemed  to  him  that  nothing  worse  could 
happen  him,  than  that  those  children  should 
see  how  he  had  been  bewitched.  Shame  and 
grief  because  he  was  no  longer  a  human  being, 
overpowered  him.  He  turned  and  fled.  He 
knew  not  whither. 


346  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

But  a  glad  meeting  awaited  the  boy  when  he 
came  down  to  the  heath.  For  there,  in  the 
heather,  he  spied  something  white,  and 
toward  him  came  the  white  goosey-gander, 
accompanied  by  Dunfin.  When  the  white  one 
saw  the  boy  running  with  such  speed,  he 
thought  that  dreadful  fiends  were  pursuing 
him.  He  flung  him  in  all  haste  upon  his 
back  and  flew  off  with  him. 


XVII 
THE  OLD  PEASANT  WOMAN 

Thursday,  April  fourteenth. 

THREE  tired  wanderers  were  out  in 
the  late  evening  in  search  of  a  night 
harbour.  They  travelled  over  a  poor  and 
desolate  portion  of  northern  Smaland.  But 
the  sort  of  resting  place  which  they  wanted, 
they  should  have  been  able  to  find;  for  they 
were  no  weaklings  who  asked  for  soft  beds  or 
comfortable  rooms.  "If  one  of  these  long 
mountain-ridges  had  a  peak  so  high  and 
steep  that  a  fox  couldn't  in  any  way  climb 
up  to  it,  then  we  should  have  a  good  sleeping- 
place,"  said  one  of  them.  "  If  a  single  one  of 
the  big  swamps  was  thawed  out,  and  was  so 
marshy  and  wet  that  a  fox  wouldn't  dare 
venture  out  on  it,  this,  too,  would  be  a  right 
good  night  harbour,"  said  the  second.  "If 
the  ice  on  one  of  the  large  lakes  we  travel 
past  were  loose,  so  that  a  fox  could  not  come 

347 


348  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

out  on  it,  then  we  should  have  found  just 
what  we  are  seeking,"  said  the  third. 

The  worst  of  it  was  that  when  the  sun  had 
gone  down,  two  of  the  travellers  became  so 
sleepy  that  every  second  they  were  ready  to 
fall  to  the  ground.  The  third  one,  who  could 
keep  himself  awake,  grew  more  and  more 
uneasy  as  night  approached.  "Then  it  was 
a  misfortune  that  we  came  to  a  land  where 
lakes  and  swamps  are  frozen,  so  that  a  fox 
can  get  around  everywhere.  In  other  places 
the  ice  has  melted  away;  but  now  we're  well 
up  in  the  very  coldest  Sm§,land,  where  spring 
has  not  as  yet  arrived.  I  don't  know  how  I 
shall  ever  manage  to  find  a  good  sleep  mg- 
place!  Unless  I  find  some  spot  that  is  w^ell 
protected,  Smirre  Fox  will  be  upon  us  before 
morning. " 

He  gazed  in  all  directions,  but  he  saw  no 
shelter  where  he  could  lodge.  It  was  a  dark 
and  chilly  night,  with  wind  and  drizzle.  It 
grew  more  terrible  and  disagreeable  around 
him  every  second. 

This  may  sound  strange,  perhaps,  but  the 
travellers  didn't  seem  to  have  the  least  desire 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  349 

to  ask  for  house-room  on  any  farm.  They 
had  already  passed  many  parishes  without 
knocking  at  a  single  door.  Little  hillside 
cabins  on  the  outskirts  of  the  forest,  which 
all  poor  wanderers  are  glad  to  run  across, 
they  took  no  notice  of  either.  One  might 
almost  be  tempted  to  say  they  deserved  to 
have  a  hard  time  of  it,  since  they  did  not  seek 
help  where  it  was  to  be  had  for  the  asking. 

But  finally,  when  it  was  so  dark  that  there 
was  scarcely  a  glimmer  of  light  left  under  the 
skies  and  the  two  who  needed  sleep  jour- 
neyed on  in  a  kind  of  half -sleep,  they  hap- 
pened into  a  farmyard  which  was  a  long 
way  off  from  all  neighbours.  And  not 
only  did  it  lie  there  desolate,  but  it  ap- 
peared to  be  uninhabited  as  well.  No  smoke 
rose  from  the  chimney ;  no  light  shone  through 
the  windows;  no  human  being  moved  on  the 
place.  When  the  one  among  the  three  who 
could  keep  awake,  saw  the  place,  he  thought : 
"  Now  come  what  may,  we  must  try  to  get 
in  here.  Anything  better  we  are  not  likely 
to  find." 

Soon  after  that,  all  three  stood  in  the  house- 


3 so  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

yard.  Two  of  them  fell  asleep  the  instant 
they  stood  still,  but  the  third  looked  about 
him  eagerly,  to  find  where  they  could  get 
under  cover.  It  was  not  a  small  farm. 
Beside  the  dwelling  house  and  stable  and 
smoke-house,  there  were  long  ranges  with 
granaries  and  storehouses  and  cattlesheds. 
But  it  all  looked  awfully  poor  and  dilapidated. 
The  houses  had  gray,  moss-grown,  leaning 
walls,  which  seemed  ready  to  topple  over. 
In  the  roofs  were  yawning  holes,  and  the 
doors  hung  aslant  on  broken  hinges.  It  was 
apparent  that  no  one  had  taken  the  trouble 
to  drive  a  nail  into  a  wall  on  this  place  for 
a  long  time. 

Meanwhile,  he  who  was  awake  had  figured 
out  which  house  was  the  cowshed.  He 
roused  his  travelling  companions  from  their 
sleep,  and  conducted  them  to  the  cowshed 
door.  Luckily,  this  was  not  fastened  with 
anything  but  a  hook,  which  he  could  easily 
push  up  with  a  rod.  He  heaved  a  sigh  of 
relief  at  the  thought  that  they  should  soon 
be  in  safety.  But  when  the  cowshed  door 
rvv^ung  open  with  a  sharp  creaking,  he  heard 


ADVENTUREvS  OF  NILS  351 

a  cow  begin  to  bellow.  "Are  you  coming  at 
last,  mistress?"  said  she.  "I  thought  that 
you  didn't  propose  to  give  me  any  supper 
to-night." 

The  one  who  was  awake  stopped  in  the 
doorway,  absolutely  terrified  when  he  dis- 
covered that  the  cowshed  was  not  empty. 
But  he  soon  saw  that  there  was  not  more  than 
one  cow,  and  three  or  four  chickens ;  and  then 
he  took  courage  again.  "We  are  three  poor 
travellers  who  want  to  come  in  somewhere, 
where  no  fox  can  assail  us,  and  no  human 
being  capture  us,"  said  he.  "We  wonder 
if  this  can  be  a  good  place  for  us."  "I  can- 
not believe  but  what  it  is,"  answered  the  cow. 
"To  be  sure  the  walls  are  poor,  but  the  fox 
does  not  walk  through  them  as  yet;  and  no 
one  lives  here  except  an  old  peasant  woman, 
who  isn't  at  all  likely  to  make  a  captive  of 
anyone.  But  who  are  you?"  she  continued, 
as  she  twisted  in  her  stall  to  get  a  sight  of 
the  newcomers.  "  I  am  Nils  Holgersson  from 
Vemminghog,  who  has  been  transformed  into 
an  elf,"  replied  the  first  of  the  incomers, 
"and  I  have  with  me  a  tame  goose,  whom  I 


352  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

generally  ride,  and  a  gray  goose."  "Such 
rare  guests  have  never  before  been  within  my 
four  walls,"  said  the  cow,  "and  you  shall  be 
welcome,  although  I  would  have  preferred 
that  it  had  been  my  mistress,  come  to  give 
me  my  supper." 

The  boy  led  the  geese  into  the  cowshed, 
which  was  rather  large,  and  placed  them  in 
an  empty  manger,  where  they  fell  asleep 
instantly.  For  himself,  he  made  a  little  bed 
of  straw  and  expected  that  he,  too,  should 
go  to  sleep  at  once. 

But  this  was  impossible,  for  the  poor  cow, 
who  hadn't  had  her  supper,  wasn't  still  an 
instant.  She  shook  her  flanks,  moved  around 
in  the  stall,  and  complained  of  how  hungry 
she  was.  The  boy  couldn't  get  a  wink  of 
sleep,  but  lay  there  and  lived  over  all  the 
things  that  had  happened  to  him  during  these 
last  days. 

He  thought  of  Osa,  the  goose-girl,  and  little 
Mats,  whom  he  had  encountered  so  unex- 
pectedly; and  he  fancied  that  the  little 
cabin  which  he  had  set  on  fire  must  have  been 
their  old  home  in  Smaland.     Now  he  recalled 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  353 

that  he  had  heard  them  speak  of  just  such  a 
cabin,  and  of  the  big  heather-heath  which 
lay  below  it.  Now  they  had  wandered  back 
there  to  see  their  old  home  again,  and  then, 
when  they  had  reached  it  it  was  in  flames. 

It  was  indeed  a  great  sorrow  which  he  had 
brought  upon  them,  and  it  hurt  him  very 
much.  If  he  ever  again  became  a  human 
being,  he  would  try  to  compensate  them  for 
the  damage  and  miscalculation. 

Then  his  thoughts  wandered  to  the  crows. 
And  when  he  thought  of  Fumle-Drumle  who 
had  saved  his  life,  and  had  met  his  own  death 
so  soon  after  he  had  been  elected  chieftain, 
he  was  so  distressed  that  tears  filled  his  eyes. 

He  had  had  a  pretty  rough  time  of  it  these 
last  few  days.  But,  anyway,  it  was  a  rare 
stroke  of  luck  that  the  goosey-gander  and 
Dunfin  had  found  him. 

The  goosey-gander  had  said  that  as  soon 
as  the  wild  geese  discovered  that  Thumbietot 
had  disappeared,  they  had  asked  all  the  small 
animals  in  the  forest  about  him.  They  soon 
learned  that  a  flock  of  Smaland  crows  had 
carried  him  off.     But  the  crows  were  already 


354  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

out  of  sight,  and  whither  they  had  directed 
their  course  no  one  had  been  able  to  say. 
That  they  might  find  the  boy  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, Akka  had  commanded  the  wild  geese 
to  start  out — two  and  two — in  different 
directions,  to  search  for  him.  But  after 
a  two  days'  hunt,  whether  or  not  they  had 
found  him,  they  were  to  meet  in  northwestern 
Smaland  on  a  high  mountain-top,  which 
resembled  an  abrupt,  chopped-off  tower,  and 
was  called  Taberg.  After  Akka  had  given 
them  the  best  directions,  and  described  care- 
fully how  they  should  find  Taberg,  they  had 
separated. 

The  white  goosey-gander  had  chosen  Dunfin 
as  travelling  companion,  and  they  had  flown 
about  hither  and  thither  with  the  greatest 
anxiety  for  Thumbietot.  During  this  ramble 
they  had  heard  a  thrush,  who  sat  in  a  tree- top, 
cry  and  wail  that  someone,  who  called  him- 
self Kidnapped-by-Crows,  had  made  fun  of 
him.  They  had  talked  with  the  thrush,  and 
he  had  shown  them  in  which  direction  that 
Kidnapped-by-Crows  had  travelled.  After- 
ward, they  had  met  a  dove-cock,  a  starling, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  355 

and  a  drake;  they  had  all  wailed  about  a 
little  culprit  who  had  disturbed  their  song, 
and  who  was  named  Caught-by-Crows,  Cap- 
tured-by-Crows,  and  Stolen-by-Crows.  In 
this  way,  they  were  enabled  to  trace  Thumb- 
ietot  all  the  way  to  the  heather-heath  in 
Sonnerbo  township. 

As  soon  as  the  goosey-gander  and  Dunfin 
had  found  Thumbietot,  they  had  started 
toward  the  north,  in  order  to  reach  Taberg. 
But  it  had  been  a  long  road  to  travel,  and  the 
darkness  was  upon  them  before  they  had 
sighted  the  mountain  top.  "If  we  only  get 
there  by  to-morrow,  surely  all  our  troubles 
will  be  over,"  thought  the  boy,  and  dug  down 
into  the  straw  to  have  it  warmer.  All  the 
while  the  cow  fussed  and  fumed  in  the  stall. 
Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  she  began  to  talk  to 
the  boy.  "Everything  is  wrong  with  me," 
said  the  cow.  "  I  am  neither  milked  nor 
tended.  I  have  no  night  fodder  in  my  manger, 
and  no  bed  has  been  made  under  me.  My 
mistress  came  here  at  dusk,  to  put  things  in 
order  for  me,  but  she  felt  so  ill,  that  she  had 
to  go  in  soon  again,  and  she  has  not  returned." 


356  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"  It's  distressing  that  I  should  be  Httle  and 
powerless,"  said  the  boy.  "I  don't  believe 
that  I  am  able  to  help  you."  "You  can't 
make  me  believe  that  you  are  powerless 
because  you  are  little,"  said  the  cow.  "All 
the  elves  that  I've  ever  heard  of,  were  so 
strong  that  they  could  pull  a  whole  load  of  hay, 
and  strike  a  cow  dead  with  one  fist."  The 
boy  couldn't  help  laughing  at  the  cow.  "  They 
were  a  very  different  kind  of  elf  from  me." 
said  he.  "But  I'll  loosen  your  halter  and 
open  the  door  for  you,  so  that  you  can  go  out 
and  drink  in  one  of  the  pools  on  the  place,  and 
then  I'll  try  to  climb  up  to  the  hayloft  and 
throw  down  some  hay  in  your  manger." 
"  Yes,  that  would  be  some  help,"  said  the  cow. 

The  boy  did  as  he  had  said;  and  when  the 
cow  stood  with  a  full  manger  in  front  of  her, 
he  thought  that  at  last  he  should  get  some 
sleep.  But  he  had  hardly  crept  down  in  the 
bed  before  she  began,  anew,  to  talk  to  him. 

"You'll  be  clean  put  out  with  mc  if  I  ask 
you  for  one  thing  more,"  said  the  cow.  "  Oh, 
no  I  won't,  if  it's  only  something  that  I'm 
able  to  do,"  said  the  boy.     "Then  I  will  ask 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  357 

you  to  go  into  the  cabin,  directly  opposite, 
and  find  out  how  my  mistress  is  getting  along. 
I  fear  some  misfortune  has  come  to  her. "  "  No ! 
I  can't  do  that,"  said  the  hoy.  "I  dare  not 
show  myself  before  human  beings."  "  Surely 
you're  not  afraid  of  an  old  and  sick  woman," 
said  the  cow.  "But  you  do  not  need  to  go 
into  the  cabin.  Just  stand  outside  the  door 
and  peep  in  through  the  crack!"  "Oh!  if  that 
is  all  you  ask  of  me,  I'll  do  it  of  course,"  said 
the  boy. 

With  that  he  opened  the  cowshed  door  and 
went  out  in  the  yard.  It  was  a  fearful  night! 
Neither  moon  nor  stars  shone;  the  wind  blew 
a  gale,  and  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents. 
And  the  worst  of  all  was  that  seven  great 
owls  sat  in  a  row  on  the  eaves  of  the  cabin. 
It  was  awful  just  to  hear  them,  where  they 
sat  and  grumbled  at  the  weather;  but  it  was 
even  worse  to  think  what  would  happen  to 
him  if  one  of  them  should  set  eyes  on  him. 
That  would  be  the  last  of  him. 

"Pity  him  who  is  little!"  said  the  boy  as 
he  ventured  out  in  the  yard.  And  he  had  a 
right  to  say  this,  for  he  was  blown  down  twice 


3S8      ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

before  he  got  to  the  house:  once  the  wind 
swept  him  into  a  pool,  which  was  so  deep  that 
he  came  near  drowning.  But  he  got  there 
nevertheless. 

He  clambered  up  a  pair  of  steps,  scrambled 
over  a  threshold,  and  came  into  the  hallway. 
The  cabin  door  was  closed,  but  down  in  one 
comer  a  large  piece  had  been  cut  away,  that 
the  cat  might  go  in  and  out.  It  was  no  diffi- 
culty whatever  for  the  boy  to  see  how  things 
were    in    the    cabin. 

He  had  hardly  cast  a  glance  in  there  before 
he  staggered  back  and  turned  his  head  away. 
An  old,  gray-haired  woman  lay  stretched  out 
on  the  floor  within.  She  neither  moved  nor 
moaned;  and  her  face  shone  strangely  white. 
It  was  as  if  an  invisible  moon  had  thrown  a 
feeble  light  over  it. 

The  boy  remembered  that  when  his  grand- 
father had  died,  his  face  had  also  become  so 
strangely  white-like.  And  he  understood  that 
the  old  woman  who  lay  on  the  cabin  floor 
must  be  dead.  Death  had  probably  come 
to  her  so  suddenly  that  she  didn't  even  have 
time  to  lie  down  on  her  bed. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  359 

As  he  thought  of  being  alone  with  the  dead 
in  the  middle  of  the  dark  night,  he  was  terri- 
bly afraid.  He  threw  himself  headlong  down 
the  steps,  and  rushed  back  to  the  cowshed. 

When  he  told  the  cow  what  he  had  seen  in 
the  cabin,  she  stopped  eating.  "So  my  mis- 
tress is  dead,"  said  she.  "Then  it  will  soon 
be  over  for  me  as  well."  "There  will  always 
be  someone  to  look  out  for  you,"  said  the  boy 
comfortingly.  "Ah!  you  don't  know,"  said 
the  cow,  "that  I  am  already  twice  as  old  as 
a  cow  usually  is  before  she  is  laid  upon  the 
slaughter-bench.  But  then  I  do  not  care  to 
live  any  longer,  since  she,  in  there,  can  come 
no  more  to  care  for  me." 

She  said  nothing  more  for  a  while,  but  the 
boy  observed,  no  doubt,  that  she  neither  slept 
nor  ate.  It  was  not  long  before  she  began  to 
speak  again.  "  Is  she  lying  on  the  bare  floor  ? " 
she  asked.  "She  is,"  said  the  boy.  "She 
had  a  habit  of  coming  out  to  the  cowshed," 
she  continued,  "and  talking  about  every- 
thing that  troubled  her.  I  understood  what 
she  said,  although  I  could  not  answer  her. 
These  last  few  days  she  talked  of  how  afraid 


360  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

she  was  lest  there  would  be  no  one  with  her 
when  she  died.  She  was  anxious  for  fear  no 
one  should  close  her  eyes  and  fold  her  hands 
across  her  breast,  after  she  was  dead.  Per- 
haps you'll  go  in  and  do  this?"  The  boy 
hesitated.  He  remembered  that  when  his 
grandfather  had  died,  mother  had  been  very 
careful  about  putting  everything  to  rights. 
He  knew  this  was  something  which  had  to  be 
done.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  felt  that 
he  didn't  dare  go  to  the  dead,  in  the  ghastly 
night.  He  didn't  say  no;  neither  did  he  take 
a  step  toward  the  cowshed  door.  For  a 
couple  of  seconds  the  old  cow  was  silent — ^just 
as  if  she  had  expected  an  answer.  But  when 
the  boy  said  nothing,  she  did  not  repeat  her 
request.  Instead,  she  began  to  talk  with  him 
of  her  mistress. 

There  was  much  to  tell,  first  and  foremost, 
about  all  the  children  which  she  had  brought 
up.  They  had  been  in  the  cowshed  every 
day,  and  in  the  summer  they  had  taken  the 
cattle  to  pasture  on  the  swamp  and  in  the 
grove?  so  the  old  cow  knew  all  about  them. 
The\    had  been  splendid,   all  of  them,   and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  361 

happy  and  industrious.  A  cow  knew  well 
enough  what  her  caretakers  were  good  for. 

There  was  also  much  to  be  said  about  the 
farm.  It  had  not  always  been  as  poor  as  it 
was  now.  It  was  very  large — ^although  the 
greater  part  of  it  consisted  of  swamps  and 
stony  groves.  There  was  not  much  room  for 
fields,  but  there  was  plenty  of  good  fodder 
ever3rwhere.  At  one  time  there  had  been  a 
cow  for  every  stall  in  the  cowshed;  and  the 
oxshed,  which  was  now  empty,  had  at  one 
time  been  filled  with  oxen.  And  then  there 
was  life  and  gayety,  both  in  cabin  and  cow- 
house. When  the  mistress  opened  the  cow- 
shed door  she  would  hum  and  sing,  and  all 
the  cows  lowed  with  gladness  when  they 
heard  her  coming. 

But  the  good  man  had  died  when  the  chil- 
dren were  so  small  that  they  could  not  be  of 
any  assistance,  and  the  mistress  had  to  take 
charge  of  the  farm,  and  all  the  work  and 
responsibility.  She  had  been  as  strong  as  a 
man,'  and  had  both  ploughed  and  reaped. 
In  the  evenings,  when  she  came  into  the  cow- 
shed to  milk,  sometimes  she  was  so  tired  that 


362  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

she  wept.  Then  she  dashed  away  her  tears, 
and  was  cheerful  again.  "It  doesn't  matter. 
Good  times  are  coming  again  for  me  too,  if 
only  my  children  grow  up.  Yes,  if  they  only 
grow  up." 

But  as  soon  as  the  children  were  grown,  a 
strange  longing  came  over  them.  They  didn't 
want  to  stay  at  home,  but  went  away  to  a 
strange  country.  Their  mother  never  got 
any  help  from  them.  A  couple  of  her  chil- 
dren were  married  before  they  went  away,  and 
they  had  left  their  children  behind,  in  the  old 
home.  And  now  these  children  followed  the 
mistress  in  the  cowshed,  just  as  her  own  had 
done.  They  tended  the  cows,  and  were  fine, 
good  folk.  And,  in  the  evenings,  when  the 
mistress  was  so  tired  out  that  she  could  fall 
asleep  in  the  middle  of  the  milking,  she  would 
rouse  herself  again  to  renewed  courage  by 
thinking  of  them.  "Good  times  are  coming 
for  me,  too,"  said  she — and  shook  off  sleep — 
"when  once  they  are  grown." 

But  when  these  children  grew  up,  they 
went  away  to  their  parents  in  the  strange 
land.     No  one  came  back — no  one  stayed  at 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  363 

home — the  old  mistress  was  left  alone  on 
the  farm. 

Probably  she  had  never  asked  them  to 
remain  with  her,  "Think  you,  Rodlinna, 
that  I  would  ask  them  to  stay  here  with  me, 
when  they  can  go  out  in  the  world  and  have 
things  comfortable?"  she  would  say  as  she 
stood  in  the  stall  with  the  old  cow.  "  Here  in 
Smaland  they  have  only  poverty  to  look 
forward  to." 

But  when  the  last  grandchild  was  gone,  it 
was  all  up  with  the  mistress.  All  at  once  she 
became  bent  and  gray,  and  tottered  as  she 
walked;  as  if  she  no  longer  had  the  strength 
to  move  about.  She  stopped  working.  She 
did  not  care  to  look  after  the  farm,  but  let 
everything  go  to  rack  and  ruin.  She  didn't 
repair  the  houses ;  and  she  sold  both  the  cows 
and  the  oxen.  The  only  one  that  she  kept 
was  the  old  cow  who  now  talked  with  Thumb- 
ietot.  Her  she  let  live  because  all  the 
children  had  tended  her. 

She  could  have  taken  maids  and  farm-hands 
into  her  service,  who  would  have  helped  her 
with  the  work,  but  she  couldn't  bear  to  see 


364  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

strangers  around  her,  since  her  own  had 
deserted  her.  Perhaps  she  was  better  satis- 
fied to  let  the  farm  go  to  ruin,  since  none  of 
her  children  were  coming  back  to  take  it 
after  she  was  gone.  She  did  not  mind  that 
she  herself  became  poor,  because  she  didn't 
value  that  which  was  only  hers.  But  she 
was  troubled  lest  the  children  should  find  out 
how  hard  she  had  it.  "If  only  the  children 
do  not  hear  of  this!  If  only  the  children  do 
not  hear  of  this!"  she  sighed  as  she  tottered 
through  the  cowhouse. 

The  children  wrote  constantly,  and  begged 
her  to  come  out  to  them;  but  this  she  did  not 
wish.  She  didn't  want  to  see  the  land  that 
had  taken  them  from  her.  She  was  angry 
with  it.  "It's  foolish  of  me,  perhaps,  that 
I  do  not  like  that  land  which  has  been  so 
good  for  them,"  said  she.  "But  I  don't 
want  to  see  it." 

She  never  thought  of  anything  but  the 
children,  and  of  this — ^that  they  must  needs 
have  gone.  When  summer  came,  she  led 
the  cow  out  to  graze  in  the  big  swamp.  All 
day  she  would  sit  on  the  edge  of  the  swamp, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  365 

her  hands  in  her  lap;  and  on  the  way  home 
she  would  say:  "You  see,  Rodlinna,  if  there 
had  been  large,  rich  fields  here,  in  place  of 
these  barren  swamps,  then  there  would  have 
been  no  need  for  them  to  leave." 

She  could  become  ftirious  with  the  swamp 
which  spread  out  so  big,  and  did  no  good. 
She  could  sit  and  talk  about  how  it  was  the 
swamp's  fault  that  the  children  had  left  her. 

This  last  evening  she  had  been  more 
trembly  and  feeble  than  ever  before.  She 
could  not  even  do  the  milking.  She  had 
leaned  against  the  manger  and  talked  about 
two  strangers  who  had  been  to  see  her,  and 
had  asked  if  they  might  buy  the  swamp. 
They  wanted  to  drain  it,  and  sow  and  raise 
grain  on  it.  This  had  made  her  both  anxious 
and  glad.  "Do  you  hear,  Rodlinna,"  she 
had  said,  "Do  you  hear  they  said  that  grain 
can  grow  on  the  swamp?  Now  I  shall  write 
to  the  children  to  come  home.  Now  they'll 
not  have  to  stay  away  any  longer;  for  now 
they  can  get  their  bread  here  at  home." 
It  was  this  that  she  had  gone  into  the  cabin 
to  do 


366  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

The  boy  heard  no  more  of  what  the  old 
cow  said.  He  had  opened  the  cowhouse  door 
and  gone  across  the  yard,  and  in  to  the 
dead  whom  he  had  but  lately  been  so  afraid 
of. 

It  was  not  so  poor  in  the  cabin  as  he  had 
expected.  It  was  well  supplied  with  the  sort 
of  things  one  generally  finds  among  those 
who  have  relatives  in  America.  In  a  corner 
there  was  an  American  rocking  chair;  on  the 
table  before  the  window  lay  a  brocaded  plush 
cover ;  there  was  a  pretty  spread  on  the  bed ; 
on  the  walls,  in  carved-wood  frames,  hung 
the  photographs  of  the  children  and  grand- 
children who  had  gone  away;  on  the  bureau 
stood  high  vases  and  a  couple  of  candle- 
sticks, with  thick,  spiral  candles  in  them. 

The  boy  searched  for  a  matchbox  and 
lighted  these  candles,  not  because  he  needed 
more  light  than  he  already  had ;  but  because 
he  thought  that  this  was  one  way  to  honour 
the  dead. 

Then  he  went  up  to  her,  closed  her  eyes, 
folded  her  hands  across  her  breast,  and  stroked 
back  the  thin  gray  hair  from  her  face. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  367 

He  thought  no  more  about  being  afraid  of 
her.  He  was  so  deeply  grieved  because  she 
had  been  forced  to  live  out  her  old  age  in 
loneliness  and  longing.  He,  at  least,  would 
watch  over  her  dead  body  this  night. 

He  hunted  up  the  psalm  book,  and  seated 
himself  to  read  a  couple  of  psalms  in  an  under- 
tone. But  in  the  middle  of  the  reading  he 
paused — ^because  he  had  begun  to  think 
about  his  mother  and  father. 

Think,  that  parents  can  long  so  for  their 
children !  This  he  had  never  known.  Think, 
that  life  can  be  as  though  it  was  over  for  them 
when  the  children  are  away!  Think,  if  those 
at  home  longed  for  him  in  the  same  way  that 
this  old  peasant  woman  had  longed! 

This  thought  made  him  happy,  but  he 
dared  not  believe  in  it.  He  had  not  been 
such  an  one  that  anybody  could  long  for  him. 

But  what  he  had  not  been,  perhaps  he 
could  become. 

Round  about  him  he  saw  the  portraits  of 
those  who  were  away.  They  were  big,  strong 
men  and  women  with  earnest  faces.  There 
were  brides  in  long  veils,  and  gentlemen  in 


368  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

fine  clothes;  and  there  were  children  with 
waved  hair  and  pretty  white  dresses.  And 
he  thought  that  they  all  stared  blindly  into 
vacancy — and  did  not  want  to  see. 

"Poor  you!"  said  the  boy  to  the  portraits. 
"Your  mother  is  dead.  You  cannot  make 
reparation  now,  because  you  went  away  from 
her.     But  my  mother  is  living!" 

Here  he  paused,  and  nodded  and  smiled 
to  himself.  "My  mother  is  living,"  said  he. 
"Both  father  and  mother  are  living." 


XVIII 
FROM  TABERG  TO  HUSKVARNA 

Friday,  April  fifteenth. 

THE  boy  sat  awake  nearly  all  night, 
but  toward  morning  he  fell  asleep  and 
then  he  dreamed  of  his  father  and  mother.  He 
could  hardly  recognise  them.  They  had 
both  grown  gray,  and  had  old  and  wrinkled 
faces.  He  asked  how  this  had  come  about, 
and  they  answered  that  they  had  aged  so 
because  they  had  longed  for  him.  He  was 
both  touched  and  astonished,  for  he  had  never 
believed  but  what  they  were  glad  to  be  rid 
of  him. 

When  the  boy  awoke  the  morning  was 
come,  with  fine,  clear  weather.  First,  he 
himself  ate  a  bit  of  bread  which  he  found  in 
the  cabin;  then  he  gave  morning  feed  to 
both  geese  and  cow,  and  opened  the  cow- 
house door  so  that  the  cow  could  go  over  to 
the  nearest  farm.     When  the  cow  came  along 

369 


370  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

all  by  herself  the  neighbours  would  no  doubt 
understand  that  something  was  wrong  with 
her  mistress.  They  would  hurry  over  to  the 
desolate  farm  to  see  how  the  old  woman  was 
getting  along,  and  then  they  would  find  her 
dead  body  and  bury  it. 

The  boy  and  the  geese  had  barely  raised 
themselves  into  the  air,  when  they  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  high  mountain,  with  almost 
perpendicular  walls,  and  an  abrupt,  broken- 
off  top;  and  they  understood  that  this  must 
be  Taberg.  On  the  summit  stood  Akka,  with 
Yksi  and  Kaksi,  Kolmi  and  Nelja,  Viisi  and 
Knusi,  and  all  six  goslings  and  waited  for 
them.  There  was  a  rejoicing,  and  a  cackling, 
and  a  fluttering,  and  a  calling  which  no  one 
can  describe,  when  they  saw  that  the  goosey- 
gander  and  Dunlin  had  succeeded  in  finding 
Thumbietot. 

The  woods  grew  pretty  high  up  on  Taberg 's 
sides,  but  her  highest  peak  was  barren;  and 
from  there  one  could  look  far  out  in  all 
directions.  If  one  gazed  toward  the  east, 
or  south,  or  west,  then  there  was  hardly  any- 
thing to  be  seen  but  a  poor  highland  with 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  371 

dark  spruce-trees,  brown  morasses,  ice-clad 
lakes,  and  bluish  mountain-ridges.  The  boy 
couldn't  keep  from  thinking  it  was  true  that 
the  one  who  had  created  this  hadn't  taken 
very  great  pains  with  his  work,  but  had 
thrown  it  together  in  a  hurry.  But  if  one 
glanced  to  the  north,  it  was  altogether  dif- 
ferent. Here  it  looked  as  if  it  had  been 
worked  out  with  the  utmost  care  and  affection. 
In  this  direction  one  saw  only  beautiful  moun- 
tains, soft  valleys,  and  winding  rivers,  all  the 
way  to  the  big  Lake  Vettern,  which  lay  ice- 
free  and  transparently  clear,  and  shone  as  if  it 
wasn't  filled  with  water  but  with  blue  light. 
It  was  Vettern  that  made  it  so  pretty  to 
look  toward  the  north,  because  it  looked  as 
though  a  blue  stream  had  risen  up  from  the 
lake,  and  spread  itself  over  land  also.  Groves 
and  hills  and  roofs,  and  the  spires  of  Jonkop- 
ing  City — which  shimmered  along  Vettern 's 
shores — ^lay  enveloped  in  pale  blue  which 
caressed  the  eye.  If  there  were  countries  in 
heaven,  they,  too,  must  be  blue  like  this,  thought 
the  boy,  and  imagined  that  he  had  gotten  a 
faint  idea  of  how  it  must  look  in  Paradise. 


372  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Later  in  the  day,  when  the  geese  continued 
their  journey,  they  flew  up  toward  the 
blue  valley.  They  were  in  holiday  humour; 
shrieked  and  made  such  a  racket  that 
no  one  who  had  ears  could  help  hearing 
them. 

This  happened  to  be  the  first  really  fine 
spring  day  they  had  had  in  this  section. 
Until  now,  the  spring  had  done  its  work  under 
rain  and  bluster;  and  now,  when  it  had  all 
of  a  sudden  become  fine  weather,  the  people 
were  filled  with  such  a  longing  after  summer 
warmth  and  green  woods  that  they  could 
hardly  perform  their  tasks.  And  when  the 
wild  geese  rode  by,  high  above  the  ground, 
cheerful  and  free,  there  wasn't  one  who  did 
not  drop  what  he  had  in  hand,  and  glance 
at  them. 

The  first  ones  who  saw  the  wild  geese  that 
day  were  miners  on  Taberg,  who  were  digging 
ore  at  the  mouth  of  the  mine.  When  they 
heard  them  cackle,  they  paused  in  their 
drilling  for  ore,  and  one  of  them  called  to  the 
birds:  "Where  are  you  going?  Where  are 
you  going?"     The  geese  didn't  understand 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  373 

what  he  said,  but  the  boy  leaned  forward 
over  the  goose-back,  and  answered  for  them: 
"Where  there  is  neither  pick  nor  hammer." 
When  the  miners  heard  the  words,  they 
thought  it  was  their  own  longing  that  made 
the  goose-cackle  sound  like  human  speech. 
"Take  us  along  with  you!  Take  us  along 
with  you!"  they  cried.  "Not  this  year." 
shrieked  the  boy.     "Not  this  year." 

The  wild  geese  followed  Taber  River  down 
toward  Monk  Lake,  and  all  the  while  they 
made  the  same  racket.  Here,  on  the  narrow 
land-strip  between  Monk  and  Vettem  lakes, 
lay  Jonkoping  with  its  great  factories.  The 
wild  geese  rode  first  over  Monks  jo  paper  mills. 
The  noon  rest  hour  was  just  over,  and  the  big 
workmen  were  streaming  down  to  the  mill- 
gate.  When  they  heard  the  wild  geese,  they 
stopped  a  moment  to  listen  to  them.  "  Where 
are  you  going?  Where  are  you  going?" 
called  the  workmen.  The  wild  geese  under- 
stood nothing  of  what  they  said,  but  the  boy 
answered  for  them:  "There,  where  there 
are  neither  machines  nor  steam-boxes. ' '  When 
the  workmen  heard  the  answer,  they  believed 


374  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

it  was  their  own  longing  that  made  the  goose- 
cackle  sound  like  human  speech.  "Take 
us  along  with  you!"  "Not  this  year," 
answered  the  boy.     "Not  this  year." 

Next,  the  geese  rode  over  the  well-known 
match  factory,  which  lies  on  the  shores  of 
Vettern — large  as  a  fortress — and  lifts  its 
high  chimneys  toward  the  sky.  Not  a  soul 
moved  out  in  the  yards;  but  in  a  large  hall 
young  working-women  sat  and  filled  match- 
boxes. They  had  opened  a  window  on 
account  of  the  beautiful  weather,  and  through 
it  came  the  wild  geese's  call.  The  one  who 
sat  nearest  the  window,  leaned  out  with  a 
match-box  in  her  hand,  and  cried:  "Where 
are  you  going?  Where  are  you  going?" 
"  To  that  land  where  there  is  no  need  of  either 
light  or  matches,"  said  the  boy.  The  girl 
thought  that  what  she  had  heard,  was  only 
goose-cackle;  but  since  she  thought  she 
had  distinguished  a  couple  of  words,  she  called 
out  in  answer:  "Take  me  along  with  you!" 
"Not  this  year,  replied  the  boy.  "Not  this 
year." 

East  of  the  factories  rises  Jonkoping,  on  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  375 

most  glorious  spot  that  any  city  can  occupy. 
The  narrow  Vettern  has  high,  steep  sand- 
shores,  both  on  the  eastern  and  western  sides ; 
but  straight  south,  the  sand-walls  are  broken 
down,  just  as  if  to  make  room  for  a  large 
gate,  through  which  one  reaches  the  lake. 
And  in  the  middle  of  the  gate — ^with  moun- 
tains to  the  left,  and  mountains  to  the  right; 
with  Monk  Lake  behind  it,  and  Vettern  in 
front  of  it — lies  Jonkoping. 

The  wild  geese  travelled  forward  over  the 
long,  narrow  city,  and  behaved  themselves 
\iere  just  as  they  had  done  in  the  country. 
But  in  the  city  there  was  no  one  who  answered 
them.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  city 
folks  should  stop  out  in  the  streets,  and  call 
to  the  wild  geese. 

The  trip  extended  further  along  Vettern 's 
shores;  and  after  a  little  they  came  to  Sanna 
Sanitarium.  Some  of  the  patients  had  gone 
out  on  the  veranda  to  enjoy  the  spring  air, 
and  in  this  way  they  heard  the  goose-cackle. 
"Where  are  you  going?"  asked  one  of  them 
with  such  a  feeble  voice  that  he  was  scarcely 
heard.     "To  that  land  where  there  is  neither 


376  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

sorrow  nor  sickness,"  answered  the  boy. 
"Take  us  along  with  you!"  said  the  sick 
ones.  "Not  this  year,"  answered  the  boy. 
"Not  this  year." 

When  they  had  travelled  still  farther  on, 
they  came  to  Huskvama.  It  lay  in  a  valley. 
The  mountains  around  it  were  steep  and 
beautifully  formed.  A  river  rushed  along 
the  heights  in  long  and  narrow  falls.  Big 
workshops  and  factories  lay  below  the  moun- 
tain walls;  and  scattered  over  the  valley- 
bottom  were  the  workingmen's  homes, 
encircled  by  little  gardens;  and  in  the  centre 
of  the  valley  lay  the  schoolhouse.  Just  as 
the  wild  geese  came  along,  a  bell  rang,  and  a 
crowd  of  school  children  marched  out  in  line. 
They  were  so  numerous  that  the  whole  school- 
yard was  filled  with  them.  "Where  are  you 
going?  Where  are  you  going?  "  the  children 
shouted  when  they  heard  the  wild  geese. 
"Where  there  are  neither  books  nor  lessons 
to  be  found,"  answered  the  boy.  "Take 
us  along!"  shrieked  the  children.  "Not  this 
year,  but  next,"  cried  the  boy.  "Not  this 
year,  but  next." 


XIX 

THE  BIG  BIRD-LAKE 

JARRO,    THE    WILD    DUCK 

ON  THE  eastern  shore  of  Vettern  lies 
Mount  Omberg;  east  of  Omberg  lies 
Dagmosse ;  east  of  Dagmosse  lies  Lake  Takern. 
Around  the  whole  of  Takern  spreads  the  big, 
even  Ostergota  plain. 

Takern  is  a  pretty  large  lake  and  in  olden 
times  it  must  have  been  still  larger.  But  then 
the  people  thought  it  covered  entirely  too 
much  of  the  fertile  plain,  so  they  attempted 
to  drain  the  water  from  it,  that  they  might 
sow  and  reap  on  the  lake-bottom.  But  they 
did  not  succeed  in  laying  waste  the  entire 
lake — ^which  had  evidently  been  their  inten- 
tion— ^therefore  it  still  hides  a  lot  of  land. 
Since  the  draining  the  lake  has  become 
so  shallow  that  hardly  at  any  point  is  it 
more   than   a   couple   of   metres   deep.     The 

377 


378  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

shores  have  become  marshy  and  muddy; 
and  out  in  the  lake,  httle  mud-islets  stick  up 
above  the  water's  surface. 

Now,  there  is  one  who  loves  to  stand  with 
his  feet  in  the  water,  if  he  can  just  keep  his 
body  and  head  in  the  air,  and  that  is  the 
reed.  And  it  cannot  find  a  better  place 
to  grow  upon,  than  the  long,  shallow 
Takern  shores,  and  around  the  little  mud- 
islets.  It  thrives  so  well  that  it  grows 
taller  than  a  man's  height,  and  so  thick  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  push  a  boat  through 
it.  It  forms  a  broad  green  enclosure  around 
the  whole  lake,  so  that  it  is  only  accessible 
in  a  few  places  where  the  people  have  taken 
away  the  reeds. 

But  if  the  reeds  shut  the  people  out,  they 
give,  in  return,  shelter  and  protection  to  many 
other  things.  In  the  reeds  there  are  a  lot  of 
little  dams  and  canals  with  green,  still  water, 
where  duckweed  and  pond  weed  run  to  seed; 
and  where  gnat-eggs  and  blackfish  and  worms 
are  hatched  out  in  uncountable  masses.  And 
all  along  the  shores  of  these  little  dams  and 
canals,  there  are  many  well-concealed  places, 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  379 

where  seabirds  hatch  their  eggs,  and  bring 
up  their  young  without  being  disturbed, 
either  by  enemies  or  food  worries. 

An  incredible  number  of  birds  Hve  in  the 
Takern  reeds;  and  more  and  more  gather 
there  every  year,  as  it  becomes  known  what 
a  splendid  abode  it  is.  The  first  who  settled 
there  were  the  wild  ducks;  and  they  still 
live  there  by  thousands.  But  they  no  longer 
own  the  entire  lake,  for  they  have  been 
obliged  to  share  it  with  swans,  grebes,  coots, 
loons,  fen-ducks,  and  a  lot  of  others. 

Takern  is  certainly  the  largest  and  choicest 
bird  lake  in  the  whole  country;  and  the  birds 
may  count  themselves  lucky  as  long  as  they 
own  such  a  retreat.  But  it  is  uncertain  just 
how  long  they  will  be  in  control  of  reeds  and 
mud-banks,  for  human  beings  cannot  forget 
that  the  lake  extends  over  a  considerable 
portion  of  good  and  fertile  soil;  and  every 
now  and  then  the  proposition  to  drain  it 
comes  up  among  them.  And  if  these  prop- 
ositions were  carried  out,  the  many  thou- 
sands of  water-birds  would  be  forced  to 
move  from  this  quarter. 


38o  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

At  the  time  when  Nils  Holgersson  travelled 
around  with  the  wild  geese,  there  lived  at 
Takern  a  wild  duck  named  Jarro.  He  was 
a  young  bird,  who  had  only  lived  one  summer, 
one  fall,  and  a  winter;  now,  it  was  his  first 
spring.  He  had  just  returned  from  South 
Africa,  and  had  reached  Takern  in  such  good 
season  that  the  ice  was  still  on  the  lake. 

One  evening,  when  he  and  the  other  young 
wild  ducks  played  at  racing  backward  and 
forward  over  the  lake,  a  hunter  fired  a  couple 
of  shots  at  them,  and  Jarro  was  wounded  in 
the  breast.  He  thought  he  should  die;  but 
in  order  that  the  one  who  had  shot  him 
shouldn't  get  him  into  his  power,  he  continued 
to  fly  as  long  as  he  possibly  could.  He 
didn't  think  whither  he  was  directing  his 
course,  but  only  struggled  to  get  far  away. 
When  his  strength  failed  him,  so  that  he 
could  not  fly  any  farther,  he  was  no  longer  on 
the  lake.  He  had  flown  a  bit  inland,  and 
now  he  sank  down  before  the  entrance  to  one 
of  the  big  farms  which  lie  along  the  shores  of 
Takern. 

A    moment    later    a     young    farm-hand 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  381 

happened  along.  He  saw  Jarro,  and  came 
and  lifted  him  up.  But  Jarro,  who  asked  for 
nothing  but  to  be  let  die  in  peace,  gathered 
his  last  powers  and  nipped  the  farm-hand  in 
the  finger,  so  he  should  let  go  of  him. 

Jarro  didn't  succeed  in  freeing  himself. 
The  encounter  had  this  good  in  it  at  any  rate: 
the  farm-hand  noticed  that  the  bird  was 
alive.  He  carried  him  very  gently  into  the 
cottage,  and  showed  him  to  the  mistress  of 
the  house — a  young  woman  with  a  kindly 
face.  At  once  she  took  Jarro  from  the  farm- 
hand, stroked  him  on  the  back  and  wiped 
away  the  blood  which  trickled  down  through 
the  neck-feathers.  She  looked  him  over  very 
carefully;  and  when  she  saw  how  pretty  he 
was,  with  his  dark-green,  shining  head,  his 
white  neck-band,  his  brownish-red  back,  and 
his  blue  wing-mirror,  she  must  have  thought 
that  it  was  a  pity  for  him  to  die.  She  promptly 
put  a  basket  in  order,  and  tucked  the  bird 
1  nto  it. 

All  the  while  Jarro  fluttered  and  struggled 
to  get  loose;  but  when  he  understood  that 
the   people   didn't   intend   to    kill    him,    he 


382  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  ^ 

settled  down  In  the  basket  with  a  sense  of 
pleasure.  Now  it  was  evident  how  exhausted 
he  was  from  pain  and  loss  of  blood.  The 
mistress  carried  the  basket  across  the  floor 
to  place  it  in  the  comer  by  the  fireplace;  but 
before  she  put  it  down  Jarro  was  already 
fast  asleep. 

In  a  little  while  Jarro  was  awakened  by 
someone  who  nudged  him  gently.  When  he 
opened  his  eyes  he  experienced  such  an  awful 
shock  that  he  almost  lost  his  senses.  Now 
he  was  lost!  for  there  stood  the  one  who  was 
more  dangerous  than  either  human  beings  or 
birds  of  prey.  It  was  no  less  a  thing  than 
Caesar  himself — the  long-haired  dog — ^who 
nosed  around  him  inquisitively. 

How  pitifully  scared  had  he  not  been  last 
summer,  when  he  was  still  a  little  yellow- 
down  duckling,  every  time  it  had  sounded 
over  the  reed-stems:  "Cassar  is  coming! 
Caesar  is  coming!"  When  he  had  seen  the 
brown  and  white  spotted  dog  with  the  teeth- 
filled  jowls  come  wading  through  the  reeds,  he 
had  believed  that  he  beheld  death  itself.  ^  He 
had  always  hoped  that  he  would  never  have 


ADVENTURES  OF     NILS        383 

to  live  through  that  moment  when  he  should 
meet  Caesar  face  to  face. 

But,  to  his  sorrow,  he  must  have  fallen  down 
in  the  very  yard  where  Caesar  lived,  for  there 
he  stood  right  over  him.  "Who  are  you?" 
he  growled.  "How  did  you  get  into  the 
house?  Don't  you  belong  down  among  the 
reed  banks?" 

It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  he  gained 
the  courage  to  answer.  "Don't  be  angry 
with  me,  Caesar,  because  I  came  into  the 
house!"  said  he.  "It  isn't  my  fault.  I  have 
been  woimded  by  a  gunshot.  It  was  the 
people  themselves  who  laid  me  in  this  basket." 

"Oho!  so  it's  the  folks  themselves  that 
have  placed  you  here,"  said  Cassar.  "Then 
it  is  surely  their  intention  to  cure  you; 
although,  for  my  part,  I  think  it  would  be 
wiser  for  them  to  eat  you  up,  since  you  are  in 
their  power.  But,  at  any  rate,  you  are 
tabooed  in  the  house.  You  needn't  look  so 
scared.     Now,  we're  not  down  on  Takern." 

With  that  Caesar  laid  himself  to  sleep  in  front 
of  the  blazing  log-fire.  As  soon  as  Jarre 
understood  that  this  terrible  danger  was  past, 


384  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

extreme  lassitude  came  over  him,  and  he  fell 
asleep  anew. 

The  next  time  Jarro  awoke,  he  saw  that  a 
dish  with  grain  and  water  stood  before  him. 
He  was  still  quite  ill,  but  he  felt  hungry 
nevertheless,  and  began  to  eat.  When  the 
mistress  saw  that  he  ate,  she  came  up  and 
petted  him,  and  looked  pleased.  After  that, 
Jarro  fell  asleep  again.  For  several  days  he 
did  nothing  but  eat  and  sleep. 

One  morning  Jarro  felt  so  well  that  he 
stepped  from  the  basket  and  wandered  along 
the  floor.  But  he  hadn't  gone  very  far  before 
he  keeled  over,  and  lay  there.  Then  came 
Caesar,  opened  his  big  jaws  and  grabbed  him. 
Jarro  believed,  of  course,  that  the  dog  was 
going  to  bite  him  to  death;  but  Csesar  carried 
him  back  to  the  basket  without  harming  him. 
Because  of  this,  Jarro  acquired  such  a  con- 
fidence in  the  dog  Caesar,  that  on  his  next 
walk  in  the  cottage,  he  went  over  to  the  dog 
and  lay  down  beside  him.  Thereafter  Cassar 
and  he  became  good  friends,  and  every  day, 
for  several  hours,  Jarro  lay  and  slept  between 
Caesar's  paws. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  385 

But  an  even  greater  affection  than  he  felt 
for  Caesar,  did  Jarro  feel  toward  his  mistress. 
Of  her  he  had  not  the  least  fear;  but  rubbed 
his  head  against  her  hand  when  she  came  and 
fed  him.  Whenever  she  went  out  of  the 
cottage  he  sighed  with  regret;  and  when  she 
came  back  he  cried  welcome  to  her  in  his  own 
language. 

Jarro  forgot  entirely  how  afraid  he  had  been 
of  both  dogs  and  humans  in  other  days.  He 
thought  now  that  they  were  gentle  and  kind, 
and  he  loved  them.  He  wished  that  he  were 
well,  so  he  could  fly  down  to  Takern  and 
tell  the  wild  ducks  that  their  enemies  were 
not  dangerous,  and  that  they  need  not  fear 
them. 

He  had  observed  that  the  human  beings, 
as  well  as  Caesar,  had  calm  eyes,  which  it  did 
one  good  to  look  into.  The  only  one  in  the 
cottage  whose  glance  he  did  not  care  to  meet, 
was  Clawina,  the  house  cat.  She  did  him  no 
harm,  either,  but  he  couldn't  place  any  con- 
fidence in  her.  Then,  too,  she  quarrelled 
with  him  constantl3%  because  he  loved  human 
beings.     "  You  think  they  protect  you  because 


386  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

they  are  fond  of  you,"  said  Clawina.  "You 
just  wait  until  you  are  fat  enough!  Then 
they'll  wring  the  neck  off  you.  I  know  them, 
I  do." 

Jarro,  like  all  birds,  had  a  tender  and 
affectionate  heart;  and  he  was  unutterably 
distressed  when  he  heard  this.  He  couldn't 
imagine  that  his  mistress  would  wish  to  wring 
the  neck  off  him,  nor  could  he  believe  any 
such  thing  of  her  son,  the  little  boy  who  sat 
for  hours  beside  his  basket,  and  babbled  and 
chattered.  He  seemed  to  think  that  both  of 
them  had  the  same  love  for  him  that  he  had 
for  them. 

One  day.  when  Jarro  and  Caesar  lay  on  the 
usual  spot  before  the  fire,  Clawina  sat  on  the 
hearth  and  began  to  tease  the  wild  duck. 

"  I  wonder,  Jarro,  what  you  wild  ducks  will 
do  next  year,  when  Takern  is  drained  and 
turned  into  grain  fields?"  said  Clawina. 
"What's  that  you  say,  Clawina?"  cried  Jarro, 
and  jimiped  up — scared  through  and  through. 
"I  always  forget,  Jarro,  that  you  do  not 
understand  human  speech,  like  Csesar  and 
myself,"    answered   the   cat.     "Or   else   you 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  387 

surely  would  have  heard  how  the  men,  who 
were  here  in  the  cottage  yesterday,  said  that 
all  the  water  was  going  to  be  drained  from 
Takern,  and  that  next  year  the  lake-bottom 
would  be  as  dry  as  a  house-floor.  And  now 
I  wonder  where  you  wild  ducks  will  go." 
When  Jarro  heard  this  talk  he  was  so  furious 
that  he  hissed  like  a  snake.  "You  are  just 
as  mean  as  a  common  coot!"  he  screamed  at 
Clawina.  "You  only  want  to  incite  me 
against  human  beings.  I  don't  believe  they 
want  to  do  anything  of  the  sort.  They  must 
know  that  Takern  is  the  wild  ducks'  property. 
Why  should  they  make  so  many  birds  home- 
less and  unhappy?  You  have  certainly  hit 
upon  all  this  to  scare  me.  I  hope  that  you 
may  be  torn  in  pieces  by  Gorgo,  the  eagle! 
I  hope  that  my  mistress  will  chop  off  your 
whiskers!" 

But  Jarro  couldn't  shut  Clawina  up  with 
this  outburst.  "So  you  think  I'm  lying," 
said  she.  "Ask  Caesar,  then!  He  was  also  in 
the  house  last  night.     Caesar  never  lies." 

"Caesar,"  said  Jarro,  "you  understand 
human   speech   much   better   than   Clawina. 


388      ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Say  that  she  hasn't  heard  aright!  Think 
how  it  would  be  if  the  people  drained  Takem, 
and  changed  the  lake-bottom  into  fields! 
Then  there  would  be  no  more  pond-weed  or 
duck-food  for  the  grown  wild  ducks,  and  no 
blackfish  or  wonns  or  gnat-eggs  for  the  duck- 
lings. Then  the  reed-banks  would  disappear 
— where  now  the  ducklings  conceal  them- 
selves until  they  are  able  to  fly.  All  ducks 
would  be  compelled  to  move  away  from  here 
and  seek  another  home.  But  where  shall  they 
find  a  retreat  like  Takern?  Cassar,  say  that 
Clawina  has  not  heard  aright!" 

It  was  extraordinary  to  watch  Caesar's 
behaviour  during  this  conversation.  He  had 
been  wide-awake  the  whole  time  before,  but 
now,  when  Jarro  turned  to  him,  he  panted, 
laid  his  long  nose  on  his  forepaws,  and  was 
sound  asleep  within  the  wink  of  an  eyelid. 

The  cat  looked  down  at  Caesar  with  a  know- 
ing smile.  "  I  believe  that  Csesar  doesn't  care 
to  answer  you,"  she  said  to  Jarro.  "It  is 
with  him  as  with  all  dogs;  they  will  never 
acknowledge  that  humans  can  do  any  wrong. 
But  you  can  rely  upon  my  word,  at  any  rate. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  389 

I  shall  tell  you  why  they  wish  to  drain  the 
lake  just  now.  As  long  as  you  wild  ducks 
still  had  the  power  on  Takern,  they  did  not 
wish  to  drain  it,  for,  at  least,  they  got  some 
good  out  of  you;  but  now,  grebes  and  coots 
and  other  birds  who  are  no  good  as  food,  have 
infested  nearly  all  the  reed-banks,  and  the 
people  don't  think  they  need  let  the  lake 
remain  on  their  account." 

Jarro  didn't  trouble  himself  to  answer 
Clawina,  but  raised  his  head,  and  shouted  in 
Caesar's  ear:  "Caesar!  You  know  that  on 
Takern  there  are  still  so  many  ducks  left  th;  it 
they  fill  the  air  like  clouds.  Say  it  isn't  true 
that  human  beings  intend  to  make  all  of  these 
homeless!" 

Then  Caesar  sprang  up  with  such  a  sudden 
outburst  at  Clawina  that  she  had  to  save 
herself  by  jumping  up  on  a  shelf.  "I'll  teach 
you  to  keep  quiet  when  I  want  to  sleep," 
bawled  Ccesar.  "Of  course  I  know  that  there 
is  some  talk  about  draining  the  lake  this  year. 
But  there's  been  talk  of  this  many  times 
before  without  anything  coming  of  it.  And 
that  draining  business  is  a  matter  in  which  I 


390  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

take  no  stock  whatever.  For  how  would  it 
go  with  the  game  if  Takern  were  laid  waste. 
You're  a  donkey  to  gloat  over  a  thing  like  that. 
What  will  you  and  I  have  to  amuse  ourselves 
with,  when  there  are  no  more  birds  on 
Takern?" 

THE    DECOY-DUCK 

Sunday,  April  seventeenth. 

A  COUPLE  of  days  later  Jarro  was  so  well 
that  he  could  fly  all  about  the  house.  Then 
he  was  petted  a  good  deal  by  the  mistress,  and 
the  little  boy  ran  out  in  the  yard  and  plucked 
the  first  grass-blades  for  him  which  had 
sprung  up.  When  the  mistress  caressed  him, 
Jarro  thought  that,  although  he  was  now  so 
strong  that  he  could  fly  down  to  Takern  at 
any  time,  he  shouldn't  care  to  be  separated 
from  the  human  beings.  He  had  no  objection 
to  remaining  with  them  all  his  life. 

But  early  one  morning  the  mistress  placed 
a  halter,  or  noose,  over  Jarro,  which  prevented 
him  from  using  his  wings,  and  then  she  turned 
him  over  to  the  farm-hand  who  had  found 
him  in  the  yard.     The  farm-hand  poked  him 


1 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  391 

under  his  arm,  and  went  down  to  Takern 
with  him. 

The  ice  had  melted  away  while  Jarro  had 
been  ill.  The  old,  dry  fall  leaves  still  stood 
along  the  shores  and  islets,  but  all  the  water- 
growths  had  begun  to  take  root  down  in  the 
deep ;  and  the  green  stems  had  already  reached 
the  surface.  And  now  nearly  all  the  migra- 
tory birds  were  at  home.  The  curlews' 
hooked  bills  peeped  out  from  the  reeds.  The 
grebes  glided  about  with  new  feather-collars 
around  the  neck;  and  the  jack-snipes  were 
gathering  straws  for  their  nests. 

The  farm-hand  got  into  a  scow,  laid  Jarro 
in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  began  to  pole 
himself  out  on  the  lake.  Jarro,  who  had  now 
accustomed  himself  to  expect  only  good  of 
human  beings,  said  to  Caesar,  who  was  also  in 
the  party,  that  he  was  very  grateful  toward 
the  farm-hand  for  taking  him  out  on  the  lake. 
But  there  was  no  need  to  keep  him  so  closely 
guarded,  for  he  did  not  intend  to  fly  away. 
To  this  Caesar  made  no  reply.  He  was  very 
close-mouthed  that  morning. 

The  only  thing  which  struck  Jarro  as  being 


392  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

a  bit  peculiar  was  that  the  farm-hand  had 
taken  his  gun  along.  He  couldn't  believe 
that  any  of  the  good  folk  in  the  cottage  would 
want  to  shoot  birds.  And,  beside,  Caesar 
had  told  him  that  the  people  didn't  hunt  at 
this  time  of  the  year.  "It  is  a  prohibited 
time,"  he  had  said,  "although  this  doesn't 
concern  me,   of  course." 

The  farm-hand  went  over  to  one  of  the 
little  reed-enclosed  mud-islets.  There  he 
stepped  from  the  boat,  gathered  some  old 
reeds  into  a  pile,  and  lay  down  behind  it. 
Jarro  was  permitted  to  wander  around  on 
the  ground,  with  the  halter  over  his  wings, 
and  tethered  to  the  boat,  with  a  long  string. 

Suddenly  Jarro  caught  sight  of  some  young 
ducks  and  drakes,  in  whose  company  he  had 
formerly  raced  backward  and  forward  over  the 
lake.  They  were  a  long  way  off,  but  Jarro 
called  them  to  him  with  a  couple  of  loud 
shouts.  They  responded,  and  a  large  and 
beautiful  flock  approached.  Before  they  got 
there,  Jarro  began  to  tell  them  about  his 
marvellous  rescue,  and  of  the  kindness  of 
human  beings.    Just  then,  two  shots  sounded 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  393 

behind  him.  Three  ducks  sank  down  in  the 
reeds — hfeless — and  Caesar  bounced  out  and 
captured  them. 

Then  Jarro  understood.  The  human  beings 
had  only  saved  him  that  they  might  use  him 
as  a  decoy-duck.  And  they  had  also  suc- 
ceeded. Three  ducks  had  died  on  his  account. 
He  thought  he  should  die  of  shame.  He 
thought  that  even  his  friend  Caesar  looked 
contemptuously  at  him ;  and  when  they  came 
home  to  the  cottage,  he  didn't  dare  lie  down 
and  sleep  beside  the  dog. 

The  next  morning  Jarro  was  again  taken 
out  on  the  shallows.  This  time,  too,  he  saw 
some  ducks.  But  when  he  observed  that 
they  flew  toward  him,  he  called  to  them: 
"Away!  Away!  Be  careful!  Fly  in  another 
direction  !  There's  a  hunter  hidden  behind  the 
reed-pile.  I'm  only  a  decoy-bird!"  And  he 
actually  succeeded  in  preventing  them  from 
coming  within  shooting  distance. 

Jarro  had  scarcely  had  time  to  taste  of  a 
grass-blade,  so  busy  was  he  in  keeping  watch. 
He  called  out  his  warning  as  soon  as  a  bird 
drew    nigh.     He    even    warned    the    grebes, 


394  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

although  he  detested  them  because  they 
crowded  the  ducks  out  of  their  best  hiding- 
places.  But  he  did  not  wish  that  any  bird 
should  meet  with  misfortune  on  his  account. 
And,  thanks  to  Jarro's  vigilance,  the  farm- 
hand had  to  go  home  without  firing  off  a  single 
shot. 

Despite  this  fact,  Caesar  looked  less  dis- 
pleased than  on  the  previous  day;  and  when 
evening  came  he  took  Jarro  in  his  mouth, 
carried  him  over  to  the  fireplace,  and  let  him 
sleep  between  his  forepaws. 

Nevertheless  Jarro  was  no  longer  contented 
in  the  cottage,  but  was  grievously  unhappy. 
His  heart  suffered  at  the  thought  that  humans 
never  had  loved  him.  When  the  mistress, 
or  the  little  boy,  came  forward  to  caress  him, 
he  stuck  his  bill  under  his  wing  and  pretended 
that  he  slept. 

For  several  days  Jarro  continued  his  dis- 
tressful watch-service;  and  already  he  was 
known  all  over  Takern.  Then  it  happened 
one  morning,  while  he  called  as  usual:  "Have 
a  care,  birds!  Don't  come  near  me!  I'm  only 
a  decoy-duck,"  that  a  grebe-nest  came  floating 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  395 

toward  the  shallows  where  he  was  tied. 
This  was  nothing  especially  remarkable.  It 
was  a  nest  from  the  year  before;  and  since 
grebe-nests  are  built  in  such  a  way  that  they 
can  move  on  water  like  boats,  it  often  happens 
that  they  drift  out  toward  the  lake.  Still 
Jarro  stood  there  and  stared  at  the  nest, 
because  it  came  so  straight  toward  the  islet 
that  it  looked  as  though  someone  had  steered 
its  course  over  the  water. 

As  the  nest  came  nearer,  Jarro  saw  that  a 
little  human  being — the  tiniest  he  had  ever 
seen — sat  in  the  nest  and  rowed  it  forward 
with  a  pair  of  sticks.  And  this  little  human 
called  to  him:  "Go  as  near  the  water  as  you 
can,  Jarro,  and  be  ready  to  fly.  You  shall 
soon  be  freed." 

A  few  seconds  later  the  grebe-nest  lay  near 
land,  but  the  little  oarsman  did  not  leave  it, 
but  sat  huddled  up  between  branches  and 
straw.  Jarro  too  held  himself  almost  immov- 
able. He  was  actually  paralysed  with  fear 
lest  the  rescuer  should  be  discovered. 

The  next  thing  which  occurred  was  that  a 
flock  of  wild  geese  came  along.     Then  Jarro 


396  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

woke  up  to  business,  and  warned  them  with 
loud  shrieks;  but  in  spite  of  this  they  flew 
backward  and  fonvard  over  the  shallows 
several  times.  They  held  themselves  so  high 
that  they  were  beyond  shooting  distance ;  still 
the  farm-hand  let  himself  be  tempted  to  fire  a 
couple  of  shots  at  them.  These  shots  were 
hardly  fired  before  the  little  creature  ran  up 
on  land,  drew  a  tiny  knife  from  its  sheath,  and, 
with  a  couple  of  quick  strokes,  cut  loose 
Jarro's  halter.  "Now  fly  away,  Jarro,  before 
the  man  has  time  to  load  again!"  cried  he, 
while  he  himself  ran  down  to  the  grebe-nest 
and  poled  away  from  the  shore. 

The  hunter  had  had  his  gaze  fixed  upon  the 
geese,  and  hadn't  observed  that  Jarro  had 
been  freed ;  but  Caesar  had  followed  more  care- 
fully that  which  happened ;  and  just  as  Jarro 
raised  his  wings,  he  dashed  forward  and  grabbed 
him  by  the  neck. 

Jarro  cried  pitifully;  and  the  boy  who  had 
freed  him  said  quietly  to  Caesar:  "If  you  are 
just  as  honourable  as  you  look,  surely  you 
cannot  wish  to  force  a  good  bird  to  sit  here  and 
entice  others  into  trouble." 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  397 

When  Cassar  heard  these  words,  he  grinned 
viciously  with  his  upper  Hp,  but  the  next 
second  he  dropped  Jarro.  "  Fly,  Jarro ! "  said 
he.  "You  are  certainly  too  good  to  be  a 
decoy-duck.  It  wasn't  for  this  that  I  wanted 
to  keep  you  here ;  but  because  it  will  be  lonely 
in  the  cottage  without  you." 

THE   LOWERING   OF   THE   LAKE 

Wednesday,  April  twentieth. 

It  was  indeed  very  lonely  in  the  cottage  with- 
out Jarro.  The  dog  and  the  cat  found  the 
time  long,  when  they  didn't  have  him  to 
wrangle  over;  and  the  housewife  missed  the 
glad  quacking  which  he  had  indulged  in  every 
time  she  entered  the  house.  But  the  one  who 
longed  most  for  Jarro,  was  the  little  boy, 
Per  Ola.  He  was  but  three  years  old,  and 
the  only  child ;  and  in  all  his  life  he  had  never 
had  a  playmate  like  Jarro.  When  he  heard 
that  Jarro  had  gone  back  to  Takern  and  the 
wild  ducks,  he  couldn't  be  satisfied  with  this, 
but  thought  constantly  of  how  he  should  get 
him  back  again. 

Per  Ola  had  talked  a  good  deal  with  Jarro 


398  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

while  he  lay  still  in  his  basket,  and  he 
was  certain  that  the  duck  understood  him. 
He  begged  his  mother  to  take  him  down  to 
the  lake  that  he  might  find  Jarro,  and  per- 
suade him  to  come  back  to  them.  Mother 
wouldn't  listen  to  this ;  but  the  little  one  didn't 
give  up  his  plan  on  that  account. 

The  day  after  Jarro  had  disappeared,  Per 
Ola  was  running  about  in  the  yard.  He 
played  by  himself  as  usual,  but  Caesar  lay 
on  the  stoop;  and  when  mother  let  the  boy 
out,  she  said :    "  Take  care  of  Per  Ola,  Caesar ! " 

Now  if  all  had  been  as  usual,  Cassar  would 
also  have  obeyed  the  command,  and  the  boy 
would  have  been  so  well  guarded  that  he 
couldn't  have  run  the  least  risk.  But  Caesar 
was  not  like  himself  these  days.  He  knew 
that  the  farmers  who  lived  along  Takern 
had  held  frequent  conferences  about  the  lower- 
ing of  the  lake;  and  that  they  had  almost 
settled  the  matter.  The  ducks  must  leave, 
and  Caesar  should  nevermore  behold  a  glo- 
rious chase.  He  was  so  preoccupied  with 
thoughts  of  this  misfortune,  that  he  did  not 
remember  to  watch  over  Per  Ola. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  399 

And  the  little  one  had  scarcely  been  alone 
in  the  yard  a  minute,  before  he  realised  that 
now  the  right  moment  was  come  to  go  down 
to  Takern  and  talk  with  Jarro.  He  opened 
a  gate,  and  wandered  down  toward  the  lake 
on  the  narrow  path  which  ran  along  the  banks. 
As  long  as  he  could  be  seen  from  the  house, 
he  walked  slowly ;  but  afterward  he  increased 
his  pace.  He  was  very  much  afraid  that 
mother,  or  someone  else,  should  call  to  him 
that  he  couldn't  go.  He  didn't  wish  to  do 
anything  naughty,  only  to  persuade  Jarro  to 
come  home;  but  he  felt  that  those  at  home 
would  not  have  approved  of  the  undertaking. 

When  Per  Ola  came  down  to  the  lake- 
shore,  he  called  Jarro  several  times.  There- 
upon he  stood  for  a  long  time  and  waited, 
but  no  Jarro  appeared.  He  saw  several  birds 
that  resembled  the  wild  duck,  but  they  flew 
by  without  noticing  him,  and  he  could  under- 
stand that  none  among  them  was  the  right 
one. 

When  Jarro  didn't  come  to  him,  the  little 
boy  thought  that  it  would  be  easier  to  find 
him  if  he  went  out  on  the  lake.     There  were 


400  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

several  good  craft  lying  along  the  shore,  but 
they  were  tied.  The  one  that  lay  loose,  and 
at  liberty,  was  an  old  leaky  scow  which  was 
so  unfit  that  no  one  thought  of  using  it. 
But  Per  Ola  scrambled  up  in  it  without 
caring  that  the  whole  bottom  was  filled  with 
water.  He  had  not  strength  enough  to  use 
the  oars,  but  instead,  he  seated  himself  to 
swing  and  rock  in  the  scow.  Certainly  no 
grown  person  would  have  succeeded  in  mov- 
ing a  scow  out  on  Takern  in  that  manner; 
but  when  the  tide  is  high — and  ill-luck  to  the 
fore — ^little  children  have  a  marvellous  faculty 
for  getting  out  to  sea.  Per  Ola  was  soon 
riding  around  on  Takern,  and  calling  for 
Jarro. 

When  the  old  scow  was  rocked  like  this 
— out  to  sea — its  cracks  opened  wider  and 
wider,  and  the  water  actually  streamed  into 
it.  Per  Ola  didn't  pay  the  slightest  attention 
to  this.  He  sat  upon  the  little  bench  in  front 
and  called  to  every  bird  he  saw,  and  won- 
dered why  Jarro  didn't  appear.  < 

At  last  Jarro  caught  sight  of  Per  Ola.  He 
heard  that  someone  called  him  by  the  name 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  401 

which  he  had  borne  among  human  beings, 
and  he  understood  that  the  boy  had  gone  out 
on  Takem  to  search  for  him.  Jarro  was 
unspeakably  happy  to  find  that  one  of  the 
humans  really  loved  him.  He  shot  down 
toward  Per  Ola,  like  an  arrow,  seated  himself 
beside  him,  and  let  him  caress  him.  They 
were  both  very  happy  to  see  each  other  again, 
But  suddenly  Jarro  noticed  the  condition  of 
the  scow.  It  was  half-filled  with  water,  and 
was  almost  ready  to  sink.  Jarro  tried  to 
tell  Per  Ola  that  he,  who  could  neither  fly 
nor  swim,  must  try  to  get  upon  land;  but 
Per  Ola  didn't  understand  him.  Then  Jarro 
did  not  wait  an  instant,  but  hurried  away  to 
get  help. 

Jarro  came  back  in  a  little  while,  and 
carried  on  his  back  a  tiny  thing,  who  was 
much  smaller  than  Per  Ola  himself.  If  he 
hadn't  been  able  to  talk  and  move,  the  boy 
would  have  believed  that  it  was  a  doll. 
Instantly,  the  little  one  ordered  Per  Ola 
to  pick  up  a  long,  slender  pole  that  lay  in 
the  bottom  of  the  scow,  and  try  to  pole  it 
toward    one   of   the   reed-islands.     Per    Ola 


402 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


obeyed  him,  and  he  and  the  tiny  creature, 
together,  steered  the  scow.  "With  a  couple 
of  strokes  they  were  on  a  Httle  reed-encircled 
island,  and  now  Per  Ola  was  told  that  he 
must  step  on  land.  And  just  the  very  moment 
that  Per  Ola  set  foot  on  land,  the  scow  was 
filled  with  water,  and  sank  to  the  bottom. 

When  Per  Ola  saw  this  he  was  sure  that 
father  and  mother  would  be  very  angry  with 
him.  He  would  have  started  in  to  cry  if 
he  hadn't  found  something  else  to  think 
about  soon;  namely,  a  flock  of  big,  gray 
birds,  who  lighted  on  the  island.  The  little 
midget  took  him  up  to  them,  and  told 
him  their  names,  and  what  they  said.  And 
this  was  so  funny  that  Per  Ola  forgot  every- 
thing else. 

Meanwhile  the  folks  on  the  farm  had  dis- 
covered that  the  boy  had  disappeared,  and 
had  started  to  search  for  him.  They  searched 
the  outhouses,  looked  in  the  well,  and  hunted 
through  the  cellar.  Then  they  went  out  into 
the  highways  and  by-paths;  wandered  to  the 
neighbouring  farm  to  find  out  if  he  had 
strayed  over  there,  and  searched  for  him  also 


DVENTURES  OF  NILS  403 

down  by  Takem.     But  no  matter  how  much 
they  sought  they  did  not  find  him. 

Caesar,  the  dog,  understood  very  well  that 
the  farmer-folk  were  looking  for  Per  Ola,  but 
he  did  nothing  to  lead  them  on  the  right 
track;  instead,  he  lay  still  as  though  the 
matter  didn't  concern  him. 

Later  in  the  day.  Per  Ola's  footprints  were 
discovered  down  by  the  boat-landing.  And 
then  came  the  thought  that  the  old,  leaky 
scow  was  no  longer  on  the  strand.  Then  one 
began  to  understand  how  the  whole  affair 
had  come  about. 

The  farmer  and  his  helpers  immediately 
took  out  the  boats  and  went  in  search  of  the 
boy.  They  rowed  around  on  Takern  until 
way  late  in  the  evening,  without  seeing  the 
least  shadow  of  him.  They  couldn't  help 
believing  that  the  old  scow  had  gone  down, 
and  that  the  little  one  lay  dead  on  the  lake- 
bottom. 

In  the  evening.  Per  Ola's  mother  hunted 
around  on  the  strand.  Everyone  else  was 
convinced  that  the  boy  was  drowned,  but 
she   could  not  bring  herself  to  believe  this. 


404  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

She  searched  all  the  while.  She  searched 
between  reeds  and  bulrushes;  tramped  and 
tramped  on  the  muddy  shore,  never  thinking 
of  how  deep  her  foot  sank,  and  how  wet  she 
had  become.  She  was  unspeakably  desperate. 
Her  heart  ached  in  her  breast.  She  did  not 
weep,  but  wrung  her  hands  and  called  for 
her  child  in  loud  piercing  tones. 

Round  about  her  she  heard  swans'  and 
ducks'  and  curlews'  shrieks.  She  thought 
that  they  followed  her,  and  moaned  and 
wailed — ^they  too.  "Surely,  they,  too,  must 
be  in  trouble,  since  they  moan  so,'.'  thought 
she.  Then  she  remembered :  these  were  only 
birds  that  she  heard  complain.  They  surely 
had  no  worries. 

It  was  strange  that  they  did  not  quiet 
down  after  sunset.  But  she  heard  all  these 
uncountable  bird-throngs,  which  lived  along 
Takern,  send  forth  cry  upon  cry.  Several  of 
them  followed  her  wherever  she  went;  others 
came  rustling  past  on  light  wings.  All  the  air 
was  filled  with  moans  and  lamentations.    - 

But  the  anguish  which  she  herself  was 
suffering,    opened   her    heart.     She    thought 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  405 

that  she  was  not  as  far  removed  from  all  other 
living  creatures  as  people  usually  think. 
She  understood  much  better  than  ever 
before,  how  birds  fared.  They  had  their 
constant  worries  for  home  and  children; 
they,  as  she.  There  was  surely  not  such  a 
great  difference  between  them  and  her  as 
she  had  heretofore  believed. 

Then  she  happened  to  think  that  it  was  as 
good  as  settled  that  these  thousands  of 
swans  and  ducks  and  loons  would  lose  their 
homes  here  by  Takern.  "  It  will  be  very 
hard  for  them,"  she  thought.  "Where  shall 
they  bring  up  their  children  now?" 

She  stood  still  and  mused  on  this.  It 
appeared  to  be  an  excellent  and  agreeable 
accomplishment  to  change  a  lake  into  fields 
and  meadows,  but  let  it  be  some  other  lake 
than  Takern;  some  other  lake,  which  was 
not  the  home  of  so  many  thousand  creatures. 

She  remembered  how  on  the  following 
day  the  proposition  to  lower  the  lake 
was  to  be  decided,  and  she  wondered  if  this 
was  why  her  little  son  had  been  lost — just 
to-day. 


4o6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

Was  it  God's  meaning  that  sorrow  should 
come  and  open  her  heart — just  to-day — 
before  it  was  too  late  to  avert  the  cruel  act? 

She  walked  rapidly  up  to  the  house,  and 
began  to  talk  with  her  husband  about  this. 
She  spoke  of  the  lake,  and  of  the  birds,  and 
said  that  she  believed  it  was  God's  judgment 
on  them  both.  And  she  soon  found  that 
he  was  of  the  same  opinion. 

They  already  owned  a  large  place,  but  if 
the  lake-draining  was  carried  into  effect,  such 
a  goodly  portion  of  the  lake-bottom  would 
fall  to  their  share  that  their  property  would 
be  nearly  doubled.  For  this  reason  they 
had  been  more  eager  for  the  undertaking  than 
any  of  the  other  shore  owners.  The  others 
had  been  worried  about  expenses,  and  anxious 
lest  the  draining  should  not  prove  any  more 
successful  this  time  than  it  was  the  last. 
Per  Ola's  father  knew  in  his  heart  that  it 
was  he  who  had  influenced  them  to  under- 
take the  work.  He  had  exercised  all  his 
eloquence,  so  that  he  might  leave  to  his  son 
a  farm  as  large  again  as  his  father  had  left 
to  him. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  407 

He  stood  and  pondered  if  God's  hand  was 
back  of  the  fact  that  Takern  had  taken  his 
son  from  him  on  the  day  before  he  was  to 
draw  up  the  contract  to  lay  it  waste.  The 
wife  didn't  have  to  say  many  words  to  him, 
before  he  answered:  "It  may  be  that  God 
does  not  want  us  to  interfere  with  His  order. 
I'll  talk  with  the  others  about  this  to-morrow, 
and  I  think  we'll  conclude  that  all  may 
remain  as  it  is." 

While  the  farmer-folk  were  talking  this 
over,  Caesar  lay  before  the  fire.  He  raised 
his  head  and  listened  very  attentively.  When 
he  thought  that  he  was  sure  of  the  outcome, 
he  walked  up  to  the  mistress,  took  her  by 
the  skirt,  and  led  her  to  the  door.  "But 
Caesar!"  said  she,  and  wanted  to  break 
loose.  "Do  you  know  where  Per  Ola  is?" 
she  exclaimed.  Caesar  barked  joyfully,  and 
threw  himself  against  the  door.  She  opened 
it,  and  Caesar  dashed  down  toward  Takern. 
The  mistress  was  so  positive  he  knew  where 
Per  Ola  was,  that  she  rushed  after  him. 
And  no  sooner  had  they  reached  the  shore 
than  they  heard  a  child's  cry  out  on  the  lake. 


4o8 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 


Per  Ola  had  had  the  best  day  of  his  life,  in 
company  with  Thumbietot  and  the  birds; 
but  now  he  had  begun  to  cry  because  he 
was  hungry  and  afraid  of  the  darkness.  And 
he  was  glad  when  father  and  mother  and 
Caesar  came  for  him. 


»a 

^  ^ 

^-jfc>         '  1^'2j 

Q 

^r    7/- 

^J^ 

^^mK  S^*"^ 

^ 

m 

XX 

ULVASA-LADY 

THE  PROPHECY 

Friday,  April  twenty-second. 

ONE  night  when  the  boy  lay  and  slept 
on  an  island  in  Takern,  he  was  awa- 
kened by  oar-strokes.  He  had  hardly  gotten 
his  eyes  open  before  there  fell  such  a  dazzling 
light  on  them  that  he  began  to  blink. 

At  first  he  couldn't  make  out  what  it  was 
that  shone  so  brightly  out  here  on  the  lake; 
but  he  soon  saw  that  a  scow  with  a  big  burn- 
ing torch  stuck  up  on  a  spike,  aft,  lay  near 
the  edge  of  the  reeds.  The  red  flame  from 
the  torch  was  clearly  reflected  in  the  night- 
dark  lake;  and  the  brilliant  light  must  have 
lured  the  fish,  for  round  about  the  flame 
in  the  deep  a  mass  of  dark  specks  were  seen, 
that  moved  continually,  and  changed  places. 

There   were   two    old    men    in    the   scow. 
409 


4IO  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

One  sat  at  the  oars,  and  the  other  stood  on 
a  bench  in  the  stern  and  held  in  his  hand  a 
short  spear  which  was  coarsely  barbed. 
The  one  who  rowed  was  apparently  a  poor 
fisherman.  He  was  small,  dried-up  and 
weather-beaten,  and  wore  a  thin,  threadbare 
coat.  One  could  see  that  he  was  so  used  to 
being  out  in  all  sorts  of  weather  that  he 
didn't  mind  the  cold.  The  other  was  well 
fed  and  well  dressed,  and  looked  like  a  pros- 
perous and  self-complacent  farmer. 

"Now,  stop!"  said  the  farmer,  when  they 
were  opposite  the  island  where  the  boy  lay. 
At  the  same  time  he  plunged  the  spear  into 
the  water.  When  he  drew  it  out  again,  a 
long,  fine  eel  came  with  it. 

"Look  at  that!"  said  he  as  he  released 
the  eel  from  the  spear.  "That  was  one  who 
was  worth  while.  Now  I  think  we  have 
so  many  that  we  can  turn  back." 

His  comrade  did  not  lift  the  oars,  but  sat 
and  looked  around.  "It  is  lovely  out  here 
on  the  lake  to-night,"  said  he.  And  so  it 
was.  It  was  absolutely  still,  so  that  the 
entire  water-surface  lay  in  undisturbed  rest 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  411 

with  the  exception  of  the  streak  where  the 
boat  had  gone  forward.  This  lay  Hke  a 
path  of  gold,  and  shimmered  in  the  firelight. 
The  sky  was  clear  and  dark  blue  and  thickly 
studded  with  stars.  The  shores  were  hidden 
by  the  reed  islands  except  toward  the  west. 
There  Mount  Omberg  loomed  up  high  and 
dark,  much  more  impressive  than  usual, 
and  cut  away  a  big,  three-cornered  piece  of 
the  vaulted  heavens. 

The  other  one  turned  his  head  to  get  the 
light  out  of  his  eyes,  and  looked  about  him. 
"Yes,  it  is  lovely  here  in  Ostergylln,"  said  he. 
"Still  the  best  thing  about  the  province  is 
not  its  beauty."  "Then  what  is  it  that's 
best?"  asked  the  oarsman.  "That  it  has 
always  been  a  respected  and  honoured  prov- 
ince." "That  may  be  true  enough."  "And 
then  this,  that  one  knows  it  will  always  con- 
tinue to  be  so."  "  But  how  in  the  world  can 
one  know  this  ? ' '  said  the  one  who  sat  at  the 
oars. 

The  farmer  straightened  up  where  he 
stood  and  braced  himself  with  the  spear. 
"There  is  an  old  story  which  has  been  handed 


412  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

down  from  father  to  son  in  my  family;  and 
in  it  one  learns  what  will  happen  to  Oster- 
gotland."  "Then  you  may  as  well  tell  it 
to  me,"  said  the  oarsman.  "We  do  not  tell 
it  to  anyone  and  everyone,  but  I  do  not  wish 
to  keep  it  a  secret  from  an  old  comrade. 

"At  Ulvasa,  here  in  Ostergotland,"  he 
continued  (and  one  could  tell  by  the  tone  of 
his  voice  that  he  talked  of  something  which 
he  had  heard  from  others,  and  knew  by  heart) , 
"many,  many  years  ago,  there  lived  a  lady 
who  had  the  gift  of  looking  into  the  future, 
and  telling  people  what  was  going  to  happen 
to  them — just  as  certainly  and  accurately 
as  though  it  had  already  occurred.  For 
this  she  became  widely  noted;  and  it  is  easy 
to  understand  that  people  would  come  to  her, 
both  from  far  and  near,  to  find  out  what 
they  were  going  to  pass  through  of  good  or 
evil. 

"One  day,  when  Ulv&sa-lady  sat  In  her  hall 
and  spun,  as  was  customary  in  former  days, 
a  poor  peasant  came  into  the  room  and 
seated  himself  on  the  bench  near  the  door. 

"  'I    wonder    what     you    are    sitting    and 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  413 

thinking  about,  dear  lady,'  said  the  peasant 
after  a  little. 

"  'I  am  sitting  and  thinking  about  high 
and  holy  things,'  answered  she.  'Then  it 
is  not  fitting,  perhaps,  that  I  ask  you  about 
something  which  weighs  on  my  heart,'  said 
the   peasant. 

"  Tt  is  probably  nothing  else  that  weighs 
on  your  heart  than  that  you  may  reap  much 
grain  on  your  field.  But  I  am  accustomed 
to  receive  communications  from  the  Emperor 
about  how  it  will  go  with  his  crown;  and 
from  the  Pope,  about  how  it  will  go  with 
his  keys.'  'Such  things  cannot  be  easy  to 
answer,'  said  the  peasant.  'I  have  also  heard 
that  no  one  seems  to  go  from  here  without 
being  dissatisfied  with  what  he  has  heard.' 

"When  the  peasant  said  this,  he  saw  that 
Ulv^sa-lady  bit  her  lip,  and  moved  higher 
up  on  the  bench.  'So  this  is  what  you  have 
heard  about  me,'  said  she.  'Then  you  may 
as  well  tempt  fortune  by  asking  me  about 
the  thing  you  wish  to  know;  and  you  shall 
see  if  I  can  answer  so  that  you  will  be  satisfied.' 

After  this  the  peasant  did  not  hesitate  to 


414  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

state  his  errand.  He  said  that  he  had  come 
to  ask  how  it  would  go  with  Ostergotland  in 
the  future.  There  was  nothing  which  was 
so  dear  to  him  as  his  native  province,  and  he 
felt  that  he  should  be  happy  until  his  dying 
day  if  he  could  get  a  satisfactory  reply  to 
his  query. 

"  'Oh!  is  that  all  you  wish  to  know,'  said 
the  wise  lady;  'then  I  think  that  you  will  be 
content.  For  here  where  I  now  sit,  I  can  tell 
you  that  it  will  be  like  this  with  Ostergotland : 
it  will  always  have  something  to  boast  of 
ahead  of  other  provinces.' 

"  'Yes,  that  was  a  good  answer,  dear  lady,' 
said  the  peasant,  'and  now  I  would  be 
entirely  at  peace  if  I  could  only  comprehend 
how  such  a  thing  should  be  possible.' 

"'Why  should  it  not  be  possible?'  said 
Ulvasa-lady.  'Don't  you  know  that  Oster- 
gotland is  already  renowned?  Or  think  you 
there  is  any  place  in  Sweden  that  can  boast 
of  owning,  at  the  same  time,  two  such  cloisters 
as  the  ones  in  Alvastra  and  Vreta,  and  such 
a  beautiful  cathedral  as  the  one  in  Linkoping?' 

"  'That  may  be  so,'  said  the  peasant.   'But 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  415 

I'm  an  old  man,  and  I  know  that  people's 
minds  are  changeable.  I  fear  that  there  will 
come  a  time  when  they  won't  want  to  give 
us  any  glory,  either  for  Alvastra  or  Vreta 
or  for  the  cathedral.' 

"'Herein  you  may  be  right,'  said  Ulvdsa- 
lady,  'but  you  need  not  doubt  prophecy  on 
that  account.  I  shall  now  build  up  a  new 
cloister  on  Vadstena,  and  that  will  become 
the  most  celebrated  in  the  North.  Thither 
both  the  high  and  the  lowly  shall  make  pil- 
grimages, and  all  shall  sing  the  praises  of  the 
province  because  it  has  such  a  holy  place 
within  its  confines.' 

"The  peasant  replied  that  he  was  right 
glad  to  know  this.  But  he  also  knew,  of 
course,  that  everything  was  perishable;  and 
he  wondered  much  what  would  give  distinc- 
tion to  the  province,  if  Vadstena  Cloister 
should  once  fall  into  disrepute. 

"  'You  are  not  easy  to  satisfy,'  said  Ulvdsa- 
lady,  'but  surely  I  can  see  so  far  ahead  that 
I  can  tell  you,  before  Vadstena  Cloister  shall 
have  lost  its  splendour,  there  will  be  a  castle 
erected   close   by,    which   will   be   the   most 


4i6  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

magnificent  of  its  period.  Kings  and  dukes 
will  be  guests  there,  and  it  shall  be  accounted 
an  honour  to  the  whole  province,  that  it  owns 
such  an  ornament." 

"  'This  I  am  also  glad  to  hear,'  said  the  peas- 
ant. 'But  I'm  an  old  man,  and  I  know  how 
it  generally  turns  out  with  this  world's  glories. 
And  if  the  castle  goes  to  ruin,  I  wonder  much 
what  there  will  be  that  can  attract  the  people's 
attention  to  this  province.' 

"  'It's  not  a  little  that  you  want  to  know,' 
said  Ulvasa-lady,  'but,  certainly,  I  can  look 
far  enough  into  the  future  to  see  that  there 
will  be  life  and  movement  in  the  forests  around 
Finspang.  I  see  how  cabins  and  smithies 
arise  there,  and  I  believe  that  the  whole 
province  shall  be  renowned  because  iron  will 
be  moulded  within  its  confines.' 

"The  peasant  didn't  deny  that  he  was 
delighted  to  hear  this.  'But  if  it  should  go 
so  badly  that  even  Finspang 's  foundry  went 
down  in  importance,  then  it  would  hardly 
be  possible  that  any  new  thing  could  arise 
of  which  Ostergotland  might  boast.' 

•'  'You  are  not  easy  to  please,'  said  Ulv^sa- 


( 


I 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  417 

lady,  'but  I  can  see  so  far  into  the  future  that 
I  mark  how,  along  the  lake-shores,  great 
manors — large  as  castles — are  built  by  gentle- 
men who  have  carried  on  wars  in  foreign  lands. 
I  believe  that  the  manors  will  bring  the  prov- 
ince just  as  much  honour  as  anything  else 
that  I  have  mentioned.' 

"  'But  if  there  comes  a  time  when  no  one 
lauds  the  great  manors? '  insisted  the  peasant. 

"  'You  need  not  be  uneasy  at  all  events,' 
said  Ulvasa-lady.  'I  see  how  health-springs 
bubble  on  Medevi  meadows,  by  Vatter's  shores. 
I  believe  that  the  wells  at  Medevi  will  bring 
the  land  as  much  praise  as  you  can  desire.' 

"  'That  is  a  mighty  good  thing  to  know,'  said 
the  peasant.  'But  if  there  comes  a  time  when 
people  will  seek  their  health  at  other  springs  ? ' 

"  'You  must  not  give  yourself  any  anxiety 
on  that  account,'  answered  Ulvasa-lady. 
'I  see  how  people  dig  and  labour,  from 
Motala  to  Mem.  They  dig  a  canal  right 
through  the  country,  and  then  Ostergotland's 
praise  is  again  on  everyone's  lips.' 

"But,  nevertheless,  the  peasant  looked 
distraught. 


4i8  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

"*I  see  that  the  rapids  in  Motala  stream 
begin  to  draw  wheels,'  said  Ulvasa-lady — 
and  now  two  bright  red  spots  came  to  her 
cheeks,  for  she  began  to  be  impatient — *I 
hear  hammers  resound  in  Motala,  and  looms 
clatter  in  Norrkoping.' 

"'Yes,  that's  good  to  know,'  said  the 
peasant,  'but  everything:  is  perishable,  and 
I'm  afraid  that  even  this  can  be  forgotten, 
and  go  into  oblivion.' 

"When  the  peasant  was  not  satisfied  even 
now,  there  was  an  end  to  the  lady's  patience. 
'You  say  that  everything  is  perishable,'  said 
she,  'but  now  I  shall  still  name  something 
which  will  always  be  like  itself;  and  that  is 
that  such  arrogant  and  pig-headed  peasants 
as  you  will  always  be  found  in  this  province 
— ^until  the  end  of  time.' 

"Hardly  had  Ulvasa-lady  said  this  before 
the  peasant  rose — happy  and  satisfied — and 
thanked  her  for  a  good  answer.  Now,  at 
last,  he  was  satisfied,  he  said. 

"  'Verily,  I  understand  now  how  you  look 
at  it,'  then  said  Ulvasa-lady. 

"  'Well,  I  look  at  it  in  this  way,  dear  lady,' 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  419 

said  the  peasant,  'that  everything  which  kings 
and  priests  and  noblemen  and  merchants 
build  and  accomplish,  can  only  endure  for  a 
few  years.  But  when  you  tell  me  that  in 
Ostergotland  there  will  always  be  peasants 
who  are  honour-loving  and  persevering,  then 
I  know  also  that  it  will  be  able  to  keep  its 
ancient  glory.  For  it  is  only  those  who  go 
bent  under  the  eternal  labour  with  the  soil,' 
who  can  hold  this  land  in  good  repute  and 
honour — ^from  one  time  to  another.'  " 


XXI 

THE  HOMESPUN  CLOTH 

Saturday,  April  twenty-third. 

THE  boy  rode  forward — way  up  in  the  air. 
He  had  the  great  Ostergotland  plain 
under  him,  and  sat  and  counted  the  many 
white  churches  which  towered  above  the  small 
leafy  groves  around  them.  It  wasn't  long 
before  he  had  counted  fifty.  After  that  he 
became  confused  and  couldn't  keep  track  of 
the  counting. 

Nearly  all  the  farms  were  built  up  with 
large,  whitewashed  two-story  houses,  which 
looked  so  imposing  that  the  boy  couldn't 
help  admiring  them.  "There  can't  be  any 
peasants  in  this  land,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"since  I  do  not  see  any  peasant  farms." 

Immediately  all  the  wild  geese  shrieked: 
"  Here  the  peasants  live  like  gentlemen.  Here 
the  peasants  live  like  gentlemen." 

On    the    plains    the    ice   and    snow      ad 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  421 

disappeared,  and  the  spring  work  had  begun. 
"What  kind  of  long  crabs  are  those  that 
creep  over  the  fields?"  asked  the  boy  after  a 
bit.  "  Ploughs  and  oxen.  Ploughs  and  oxen," 
answered  the  wild  geese. 

The  oxen  moved  so  slowly  down  on  the 
fields,  that  one  could  scarcely  perceive 
they  were  in  motion,  and  the  geese  shouted 
to  them:  "You  won't  get  there  before  next 
year.  You  won't  get  there  before  next  year." 
But  the  oxen  were  equal  to  the  occasion. 
They  raised  their  muzzles  in  the  air  and 
bellowed;  "  We  do  more  good  in  an  hour  than 
such  as  you  do  in  a  whole  lifetime." 

In  a  few  places  the  ploughs  were  drawn  by 
horses.  They  went  along  with  much  more 
eagerness  and  haste  than  the  oxen;  but  the 
geese  couldn't  keep  from  teasing  these  either. 
"Ar'n't  you  ashamed  to  be  doing  ox-duty?" 
cried  the  wild  geese.  "Ar'n't  you  ashamed 
yourselves  to  be  doing  lazy  man's  duty?" 
the  horses  neighed  back  at  them. 

But  while  horses  and  oxen  were  at  work 
in  the  fields,  the  stable  ram  walked  about 
in  the  barnyard.     He  was  newly  clipped  and 


422  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

touchy,  knocked  over  the  small  boys,  chased 
the  shepherd  dog  into  his  kennel,  and  then 
strutted  about  as  though  he  alone  were  lord  of 
the  whole  place.  "  Rammie,  rammie,  what 
have  you  done  with  your  wool?"  asked  the 
wild  geese,  who  rode  by  up  in  the  air.  "That 
I  have  sent  to  Drag's  woollen  mills  in  Norr- 
koping,"  replied  the  ram  with  a  long,  drawn- 
out  bleat.  "Rammie,  rammie,  what  have 
you  done  with  your  horns?"  asked  the  geese. 
But  any  horns  the  rammie  had  never  pos- 
sessed, to  his  sorrow,  and  one  couldn't  offer 
him  a  greater  insult  than  to  ask  after  them. 
He  ran  around  a  long  time,  and  butted  at  the 
air,  so  furious  was  he. 

On  the  country  road  came  a  man  who 
drove  a  flock  of  Sk^ne  pigs  that  were  not  more 
than  a  few  weeks  old,  and  were  going  to  be 
sold  up  country.  They  trotted  along  bravely, 
as  little  as  they  were,  and  kept  close  together 
— ^as  if  they  sought  protection.  "Niiff,  nuff, 
nuff,  we  came  away  too  soon  from  father  and 
mother.  Nuff,  nuff,  nuff,  how  will  it  '-p  with 
us  poor  children?"  said  the  little  pigs.  The 
wild  geese  didn't  have  the  heart  to  tease  such 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  423 

poor  little  creatures.  "It  will  be  better  for 
you  than  you  can  ever  believe,"  they  cried  as 
they  flew  past  them. 

The  wild  geese  were  never  so  merry  as 
when  they  flew  over  a  flat  country.  Then 
they  did  not  hurry  themselves,  but  flew  from 
farm  to  farm,  and  joked  with  the  tame 
animals. 

As  the  boy  rode  over  the  plain,  he  happened 
to  think  of  a  legend  which  he  had  heard  a  long 
time  ago.  He  didn't  remember  it  exactly, 
but  it  was  something  about  a  petticoat — 
half  of  which  was  made  of  gold-woven  velvet, 
and  half  of  gray  homespun  cloth.  But  the 
one  who  owned  the  petticoat  adorned  the 
homespun  cloth  with  such  a  lot  of  pearls  and 
precious  stones  that  it  looked  richer  and  more 
gorgeous  than  the  gold-cloth. 

He  remembered  this  about  the  homespun 
cloth,  as  he  looked  down  on  Ostergotland, 
because  it  was  made  up  of  a  large  plain,  which 
lay  wedged  in  between  two  mountainous 
forest- tracts — one  to  the  north,  the  other  to 
the  south.  The  two  forest-heights  lay  there, 
a  lovely  blue,  and  shimmered  in  the  morning 


424  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

light,  as  if  they  were  decked  with  golden  veils; 
and  the  plain,  which  simply  spread  out  one 
winter-naked  field  after  another,  was,  in  and 
of  itself,  prettier  to  look  upon  than  gray 
homespun. 

But  the  people  must  have  been  contented 
on  the  plain,  because  it  was  generous  and  kind, 
and  they  had  tried  to  decorate  it  in  the  best 
way  possible.  High  up — ^where  the  boy  rode 
by — ^he  thought  that  cities  and  farms, 
churches  and  factories,  castles  and  railway 
stations  were  scattered  over  it,  like  large  and 
small  trinkets.  It  shone  on  the  roofs,  and  the 
window-panes  glittered  like  jewels.  Yellow 
country  roads,  shining  railway-tracks  and 
blue  canals  ran  along  between  the  districts, 
like  embroidered  loops.  Linkoping  lay 
around  its  cathedral  like  a  pearl-setting  around 
a  precious  stone;  and  the  gardens  in  the 
country  were  like  little  brooches  and  buttons. 
There  was  not  much  regulation  in  the  pattern, 
but  it  was  a  display  of  grandeur  which  one 
could  never  tire  of  looking  at. 

The  geese  had  left  Oberg  district,  and 
travelled  toward  the  east  along  Gota  Canal. 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  425 

This  was  also  getting  itself  ready  for  the  sum- 
mer. Workmen  laid  canal-banks,  and  tarred 
the  huge  lock-gates.  They  were  working 
everywhere  to  receive  spring  fittingly,  even 
in  the  cities.  There,  masons  and  painters 
stood  on  scaffoldings  and  made  fine  the 
exteriors  of  the  houses  while  maids  were 
cleaning  the  windows.  Down  at  the  harbour, 
sailboats  and  steamers  were  being  washed  and 
dressed  up. 

At  Norrkoping  the  wild  geese  left  the  plain, 
and  flew  up  toward  Kolmarden.  For  a  time 
they  had  followed  an  old,  hilly  country  road, 
which  wound  around  cliffs,  and  ran  forward 
under  wild  mountain-walls — when  the  boy 
suddenly  let  out  a  shriek.  He  had  been 
sitting  and  swinging  his  foot  back  and  forth, 
and  one  of  his  wooden  shoes  had  slipped  off. 

"Goosey-gander,  goosey-gander,  I  have 
dropped  my  shoe!"  cried  the  boy.  The 
goosey-gander  turned  about  and  sank  toward 
the  ground;  then  the  boy  saw  that  two  chil- 
dren, who  were  walking  along  the  road,  had 
picked  up  his  shoe.  "Goosey-gander,  goosey- 
gander,"   screamed   the  boy  excitedly,    "fly 


426  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

upward  again!  It  is  too  late.  I  cannot  get 
my  shoe  back  again." 

Down  on  the  road  stood  Osa,  the  goose- 
girl,  and  her  brother,  little  Mats,  looking 
at  a  tiny  wooden  shoe  that  had  fallen  from 
the  skies. 

Osa,  the  goose-girl,  stood  silent  a  long 
while,  and  pondered  over  the  find.  At  last 
she  said,  slowly  and  thoughtfully:  "Do  you 
remember,  little  Mats,  that  when  we  went 
past  Ovid  Cloister,  we  heard  that  the  folks  in 
a  farmyard  had  seen  an  elf  who  was  dressed 
in  leather  breeches,  and  had  wooden  shoes  on 
his  feet,  like  any  other  working  man?  And 
do  you  recollect  when  we  came  to  Vittskovle, 
a  girl  told  us  that  she  had  seen  a  Goa-Nisse 
with  wooden  shoes,  who  flew  away  on  the 
back  of  a  goose  ?  And  when  we  ourselves  came 
home  to  our  cabin,  little  Mats,  we  saw  a  goblin 
who  was  dressed  in  the  same  way,  and  who 
also  straddled  the  back  of  a  goose — and  flew 
away.  Maybe  it  was  the  same  one  who 
rode  along  on  his  goose  up  here  in  the  air  and 
dropped  his  wooden  shoe." 

"  Yes,  it  must  have  been,"  said  little  Mats. 


"A  tiny  wooden  shoe  that  had  fallen 
from  the  skies" 


I 


ADVENTURES  OF  NILS  427 

They  turned  the  wooden  shoe  about  and 
examined  it  carefully — for  it  isn't  every  day 
that  one  happens  across  a  Goa-Nisse's  wooden 
shoe  on  the  highway. 

"Wait,  wait,  little  Mats!"  said  Osa,  the 
goose-girl.  "There  is  something  written  on 
one  side  of  it." 

"Why,  so  there  is!  but  they  are  such  tiny 
letters." 

"Let  me  see!  It  says — it  says:  'Nils  Hol- 
gersson  from  W.  Vemminghog.'  That's  the 
most  wonderful  thing  I've  ever  heard!"  said 
little  Mats. 

END  OF  BOOK  I 


APPENDIX 

TABLE    OF    PRONUNCIATION 

The  final  e  is  sounded  in  Skdne,  Sirle, 
Gripe,  etc. 

The  a  in  Skane  and  Smaland  is  pronounced 
hke  0  in  ore. 

/  is  Hke  the  EngHsh  y.  Nuolja,  Oviks- 
fjallen,  Sjangeli,  Jarro,  etc.,  should  sound  as 
if  they  were  spelled  like  this:  Nuolya,  Oviks- 
fyellen,  Syang[one  syllablejelee,  Yarro,  etc. 

g,  when  followed  by  e,  i,  y,  a,  b,  is  also  like 
y.   Example,  Gota  is  pronounced  Yota. 

When  g  is  followed  by  a,  o,  u,  or  a,  it  is  hard, 
as  in  go. 

k  in  Norrkoping,  Linkoping,  Kivik  (pro- 
nounced Cheeveek),  etc.,  is  like  ch  in  cheer. 

k  is  hard  when  it  precedes  a,  o,  u ,  or  a. 
Example,  Kaksi,  Kolmi,  etc. 

a  is  pronounced  like  d  in  fare.  Example, 
Pars. 

There  is  no  sound  in  the  English  language 
429 


430  ADVENTURES  OF  NILS 

which  corresponds  to  the  Swedish  o.  It  is 
Hke  the  French  eu  in  jeu. 

Gripe  is  pronounced  Greep-e. 

In  Sirle,  the  first  syllable  has  the  same 
sound  as  sir,  in  sirup. 

The  names  which  Miss  Lagerlof  has  given 
to  the  animals  are  descriptive. 

Smirre  Fox,  is  cunning  fox. 

Sirle  Squirrel,  is  graceful,  or  nimble  squirrel. 

Gripe  Otter,  means  grabbing  or  clutching 
otter. 

Mons  is  a  pet  name  applied  to  cats ;  like  our 
tommy  and  pussy.  Monsie  house-cat  is  equiv- 
alent to  Tommy  house-cat. 

Marten  gaskarl  (Morten  Goosie-gander)  is  a 
pet  name  for  a  tame  gander,  just  as  we  use 
Dickie-bird  for  a  pet  bird. 

Fru  is  the  Swedish  for  Mrs.  This  title  is 
usually  applied  to  gentlewomen  only.  The 
author  has  used  this  meaning  of  "fru." 

A  Goa-Nisse  is  an  elf -king,  and  corresponds 
to  the  English  Puck  or  Robin  Goodfellow. 
Velma  Swanston  Howard. 


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